Felise Kaufusi

Felise Kaufusi (born 19 May 1992) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a  for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL, and has played for Tonga and Australia at international level.

Kaufusi won the 2017 NRL Grand Final with the Storm, and has also played for Queensland.

Early life
Kaufusi was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and is of Tongan descent. He moved to Australia as a 7 year old and was educated at Shalom Catholic College, Bundaberg.

Felise played his junior football for the Bundaberg Brothers, before being signed by the North Queensland Cowboys. Kaufusi is the younger brother of Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs player Antonio Kaufusi and older brother of Melbourne Storm player Patrick Kaufusi.

Playing career

Early career
From 2010 to 2012, Kaufusi played for the North Queensland Cowboys' NYC team. On 2 October 2011, Kaufusi played in the Cowboys' 2011 NYC Grand Final 31-30 Golden Point Extra Time loss to the New Zealand Warriors. On 28 June 2012, he re-signed with the Cowboys on a 1-year contract. In 2013, he moved on to the Cowboys' Queensland Cup team, Northern Pride RLFC. On 21 August 2013, he signed a 1-year contract with the Melbourne Storm starting in 2014. In July 2014, he played for the Queensland Residents against the New South Wales Residents.

2015
In Round 1 of the 2015 NRL season, Kaufusi made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm against the St. George Illawarra Dragons, playing off the interchange bench in the 12-4 win at Jubilee Oval. In Round 4 against the North Queensland Cowboys, Kaufusi scored his first NRL career try in the Storm’s 18-17 win at 1300SMILES Stadium. On 2 May 2015, he played for Tonga against Samoa in the Polynesian Cup. On 2 July 2015, Kaufusi re-signed with the Storm on a 2-year contract.

2016
On 7 May, Kaufusi played for Tonga against Samoa in the 2016 Polynesian Cup. On 6 July, he was named as 18th man for Queensland in Game 3 of the 2016 State of Origin series. Kaufusi was named as 18th man for the Storm in their 2016 NRL Grand Final clash against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks but didn’t play in the 14-12 thrilling loss. Kaufusi finished the 2016 NRL season with him playing in 21 matches and scoring 4 tries for the Storm.

2017
On 21 April 2017, Kaufusi re-signed his contract with the Storm to the end of the 2019 season. On 6 May 2017, Kaufusi played for Tonga against Fiji in the 2017 Pacific Test, where he started at second-row in the 26-24 win at Campbelltown Stadium. During the season, Kaufusi took over the void second-row position from the departed Kevin Proctor and he took the opportunity by both hands and was instrumental for the Storm to their run leading up to the Finals series where they the winners of the Minor Premiership trophy. On 1 October 2017, in the Storm’s 2017 NRL Grand Final against the North Queensland Cowboys, Kaufusi started at second-row and scored a try in the 34-6 victory. Kaufusi finished his breakout 2017 NRL season with him playing all of the Storm’s 27 matches and scored 9 tries. On 3 October 2017, two days after the Grand Final win, Kaufusi was rewarded with selection in the 24-man Kangaroos squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. On 3 November 2017, Kaufusi made his test debut for Australia against France, where he played off the interchange bench in the 52-6 win at Canberra Stadium.

2018
In Round 1, Kaufusi suffered a hamstring injury being sidelined for three weeks. In May, he signed a two-year extension to remain with the Melbourne Storm.

Kaufusi made his debut for Queensland in Game 1 of the 2018 State of Origin series, starting at second-row in all three games. He then featured in the Melbourne Storm's Grand Final loss to the Sydney Roosters. Kaufusi played in 21 games for the Storm in 2018, scoring five tries. Kaufusi played for Australia in the end of season tests vs New Zealand and Tonga.

Career stats

Club

Representative

Honours
Melbourne Storm
 2016 NRL Grand Final Runner-up
 2017 NRL Grand Final Winners
 2018 World Club Challenge Winners
 2018 NRL Grand Final Runner-up

References

External links
Melbourne Storm profile
2017 RLWC profile

Category:1992 births
Category:New Zealand rugby league players
Category:New Zealand people of Tongan descent
Category:Tonga national rugby league team players
Category:Australia national rugby league team players
Category:Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players
Category:Melbourne Storm players
Category:Eastern Suburbs Tigers players
Category:Northern Pride RLFC players
Category:Rugby league props
Category:New Zealand emigrants to Australia
Category:Living people