Seagulls convert is set to shine in PNG
Nofoa never would have pictured himself in a Tweed jersey. The 22-year-old grew up in New Zealand playing rugby union – bar one year of league at school – and moved into the world rugby sevens scene representing Samoa, his father’s country of birth.
There for 2015/16 and part of the 2016/17 season, Hunapo-Nofoa showed his sheer class by earning selection for the ‘dream team’ for the tournament in Vancouver, Canada, in March last year.
“To be named one of the best seven players in the world in that tournament was definitely a highlight and an achievement for myself,” he reflected.
In February, English Championship league club Bradford trumpeted his signing and declared he would become a Bulls fan favourite.
But the move never came about, with visa troubles leaving Hunapo-Nofoa stranded back in Auckland.
“I didn’t know how long they were going to take. I waited around long enough,” he said.
“I felt like I had to terminate. My agent just spoke to Clarky (Seagulls chief execu- tive Scott Clark) and they said they would love to have me there and give me an opportunity to play footy. It was hard to say no to.”
And so he flew in on a Tuesday afternoon and trained only hours later; after two A-grade matches, he was promoted to the Queensland Cup side to take part in a 36-28 win over the Capras a fortnight ago.
Hunapo-Nofoa, who despite his rugby-dominated upbringing supported Wests Tigers and idolised Benji Marshall, hopes to put the foundations in place for an eventual shot at the NRL. As for the task in PNG, he believes the group are primed to bounce back from last week’s “hiccup” of a 46-8 loss to Wynnum Manly.
“We have only won a handful this year but the handful we have won have been against a couple of the top sides so we’re looking forward to doing that again this weekend … we have got nothing to lose going over there,” he said.
Burleigh have a bye and will return to action next weekend against Ipswich.