Sosaia Feki
Personal information
Born (1991-05-09) 9 May 1991
Auckland, New Zealand
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight15 st 13 lb (101 kg)
Playing information
PositionWing[1]
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–19 Cronulla Sharks 148 67 0 0 268
2020–22 Castleford Tigers 2 0 0 0 0
2022(loan) Featherstone Rovers 0 0 0 0 0
2022(loan) Sheffield Eagles 0 0 0 0 0
Total 150 67 0 0 268
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–15 Tonga 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3]
As of 14 March 2023

Sosaia Feki (born 9 May 1991[4]), anglicised Josiah Feki, also known by the nickname of "The PM"[5] is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays on the wing for Western Suburbs Red Devils in the Illawarra Rugby League.

He played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL,[6] and was part of the Cronulla team that won their maiden premiership title in the 2016 season.

Background

Feki was born in Auckland, New Zealand and is of Tongan descent.

Feki played his junior football for the Bay Roskill Vikings before being signed by the New Zealand Warriors. Feki played for the Warriors NYC team in 2010 and 2011.[7] In October 2011, Feki played for the Junior Kiwis.[8]

Feki playing for the Sharks in 2012

In 2012, Feki joined the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.[9]

Playing career

2013

In round 8 of the 2013 NRL season, Feki made his National Rugby League (NRL) début for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks as a wing in the 21-20 victory over the Newcastle Knights at Hunter Stadium.[10] In his second game in Round 9 against the Wests Tigers at SFS, Feki scored his first and second NRL career tries in the Sharks 30-6 win.[11] Feki finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 19 matches and scoring 7 tries for the Sharks in the 2013 NRL season. On 8 October 2013, Feki was named in the 24 man Tonga national rugby league team squad for the 2013 World Cup.[12] Feki played in 1 match in the tournament in Tonga's 26-24 loss to the Scotland at Derwent Park in Workington.[13]

2014

In February 2014, Feki was included in the Sharks inaugural 2014 Auckland Nines squad.[14] On 11 July 2014, Feki extended his contract with Cronulla-Sutherland for three years through till the end of the 2017 season.[15] Feki was the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks highest tryscorer of the 2014 NRL season with 9 tries in 20 matches although his efforts were not enough to save the club from finishing last on the table.[16]

On 9 September 2014, Feki was selected for the New Zealand 2014 Four Nations train on squad.[17] On 7 October 2014, Feki was selected in the New Zealand national rugby league team final 24-man squad for the series,[18] but didn't play a match in the tournament.

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Feki played for the Sharks in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[19] On 2 May, he played for Tonga in their Polynesian Cup clash with Pacific rivals Samoa, playing on the wing in Tonga's 18-16 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.[20] He finished off the 2015 season having played in 23 matches and scoring 7 tries for the Sharks.[21]

2016

In February, Feki played for the Sharks in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines.[22] In Round 10 against the Newcastle Knights, he scored a hat-trick of tries in the Sharks' 62-0 win.[23]

For a career best 14 tries from 24 appearances, 248 runs amassing 2588 metres, 13 linebreaks and 51 tackle breaks. In October, Feki played in Cronulla-Sutherland's 2016 NRL Grand Final victory over Melbourne Storm, however, he was forced off with a knee injury in the second half. This was the first NRL Premiership for both Feki and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.[24]

2017

Feki was scheduled to come off contract, however continued performance led to re-signing with the Sharks through to the 2019 season. Feki, a Cronulla fan favourite stated 'I'm looking forward to it' and 'I'm hoping to stay as long as I can.'[25]

2018

Feki made 16 appearances for Cronulla in 2018 as the club reached the preliminary final but fell short of another grand final appearance losing to Melbourne 22-6. The match was also remembered for Melbourne player Billy Slater hitting Feki in the first half with an illegal shoulder charge when Feki was close to scoring a try. Slater was later cleared of any wrongdoing and was allowed to play in the grand final the following week.[26]

2019

On 3 July, Feki signed a three-year contract to join English side Castleford Tigers for the 2020 Super League season.[27]

In round 25 against the Wests Tigers, Feki scored 2 tries as Cronulla-Sutherland won the match 25-8 at Leichhardt Oval. Cronulla needed to win the match to ensure that they would reach the finals as was also the case for Wests.[28]

Feki's final game for Cronulla came in the elimination final against Manly at Brookvale Oval which Cronulla lost 28-16.[29]

2020

On 4 March 2020 it was reported that Feki suffered a pre-season injury that would delay his Castleford Tigers début[30]

2021

On 18 February, Castleford Tigers (Heritage № 999) announced that Feki had sustained a ruptured achillies tendon in pre-season training.

2022

On 7 August 2022, Feki played his first game in 693 days as Castleford were defeated 20-12 by St Helens RFC.[31][32][33]

References

  1. Fox Sports News - AAP (24 February 2017). "NRL 2017: Cronulla Sharks re-sign winger Sosaia Feki until 2019". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  2. loverugbyleague
  3. "Sosaia Feki - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  4. "Sosaia Feki - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project".
  5. Broadcast Commentary Team (1 July 2017). "Round 17 Roosters V Sharks". NRL.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. Fox Sports News - AAP (24 February 2017). "NRL 2017: Cronulla Sharks re-sign winger Sosaia Feki until 2019". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  7. Stuff New Zealand Sport News - David Young (17 April 2016). "The Once Were Warriors team – talent that walked out the Warriors' front door". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  8. "League: Junior Kiwis dominated by NYC grand finalists - Sport - NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  9. "Sharks sign Feki to first grade | NRL". Zero Tackle. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  10. Robert Dillon (5 May 2013). "Sharks overcome Gallen injury blues for golden-point win over Knights". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  11. Glenn Jackson (10 May 2013). "Carney on high as Tigers bomb out". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  12. "Tonga Name 20 Players with NRL Experience in Squad for Rugby League World Cup". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  13. "Scotland Have Pulled Off an Unlikely World Cup Victory by Beating Tonga 26-24". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  14. "Squads For Auckland Nines". Rugby League Week. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  15. "Feki extends through 2017". League Unlimited. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  16. "Sharks set for wooden spoon after defeat to Raiders". The Guardian. 24 August 2014.
  17. "Six players added to Kiwis squad | Radio New Zealand News". Radionz.co.nz. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  18. "Four rookies in Kiwis Four Nations squad". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  19. "SHARKS NAME 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016.
  20. "Sam Kasiano Try Saving Tackle on Jorge Taufua Secures Pacific Test Win for Samoa Against Tonga". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  21. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  22. "Cronulla Sharks name 2016 Nines squad". Rugby League Week. 29 January 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  23. "NRL 2016: Valentine Holmes stars as Cronulla Sharks embarrass Newcastle Knights". Dailytelegraph.com.au. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  24. "Sosaia Feki says the pain of a knee injury is worth it following Sharks premiership". Dailytelegraph.com.au. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  25. Fox Sports News - AAP (24 February 2017). "NRL 2017: Cronulla Sharks re-sign winger Sosaia Feki until 2019". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  26. "NRL preliminary final: Storm sink Sharks - as it happened". TheGuardian.com. 21 September 2018.
  27. "Castleford Tigers to sign Cronulla Sharks wing from 2020 season". BBC Sport.
  28. "Paul Gallen slots late field goal to ice Sharks victory over Tigers and lock up finals berth". Fox Sports. 8 September 2019.
  29. "Under-strength Sea Eagles send Sharks packing". NRL. 14 September 2019.
  30. "Castleford recruit Sosaia Feki suffers re-occurrence of calf injury". www.loverugbyleague.com. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  31. "Sosaia Feki hailed after playing first game in almost two years". www.loverugbyleague.com.
  32. "Castleford star Sosaia Feki admits he almost retired after horror run of injuries". www.mirror.co.uk.
  33. "Castleford Tigers winger Sosaia Feki suffers setback on road to recovery". www.examinerlive.co.uk.
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