Lorenzo Ma'afu


Lorenzo Ma'afu is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup. He primarily played. Ma'afu is of Tongan descent. Ma'afu was well known for overcoming much adversity to make it into the NRL.

Early life

Born in New Zealand, before moving to Australia. Ma'afu played his junior football for the East Hills Bulldogs in Australia before being signed by Canterbury.

Canterbury-Bankstown

In round 9 of the 2008 NRL season he made his NRL debut for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs against the Penrith Panthers. He made one further appearance for Canterbury which came in round 12 against Melbourne which Canterbury lost 46-0.

Ipswich Jets

In 2009, he joined the Ipswich Jets in the Intrust Super Cup.

2012-14

At the start of 2012, Ma'afu was close to joining NRL club, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles but nothing eventuated as Sea Eagles recruitment manager, Noel Cleal, who wanted to sign him, went to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs before anything was finalized. Ma'afu was invited to do pre-season training with the Gold Coast Titans.
In June 2012, Ma'afu was invited to come down for a week to train with the Newcastle Knights at the request of Knights coach Wayne Bennett in order to possibly gain a contract.
In September 2012, Ma'afu signed a two-year contract with the Parramatta Eels.

Townsville Blackhawks

In 2015, Ma'afu joined Townsville and played two seasons with the club.

Burleigh Bears

In 2017, Ma'afu joined Burleigh and made 12 appearances during the 2017 season.

Later career

In 2021, it was reported that Ma'afu was playing for the Mudgeeraba Redbacks in the local Gold Coast A-Grade competition.

Controversy

In 2010, he was banned from the sport for 15 months after his drink was spiked with ecstasy and another recreational drug. Ma'afu's ban expired on 1 February 2011 and he returned to play for the Jets.