Quick Facts
Biography
Tuimoala Lolohea (born 23 January 1995) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League. A New Zealand and Tongan international representative, he primarily plays at five-eighth, halfback and fullback, but can also fill in at centre and wing.
Playing career
A Marist Saints junior, Lolohea is of Tongan descent and signed with the New Zealand Warriors in 2013, playing in all 28 matches in the Holden Cup. Lolohea was named the Warriors 2013 NYC Young Player of the Year and also played for the Junior Kiwis that year. Lolohea attended Kelston Boys’ High School.
2014
In February 2014, Lolohea was selected in the Warriors' 2014 NRL Auckland Nines squad. Lolohea started to play for the New Zealand Warriors NSW Cup squad. Lolohea made his first grade debut in Round 20 of the 2014 NRL season against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, playing off the interchange bench in the Warriors 22-12 loss at Mt Smart Stadium after halfback Shaun Johnson was ruled out with injury. Lolohea played in the 2014 Holden Cup Grand Final, won by the Junior Warriors 34-32 over the Junior Brisbane Broncos. Lolohea played in 3 NRL matches for the Warriors in the 2014 season.
2015
On 16 January 2015, Lolohea was named in the Warriors' 2015 Auckland Nines squad. In Round 3 against the Parramatta Eels, Lolohea scored his first NRL career try in the Warriors 29-16 win at Mt Smart Stadium. On 2 May 2015, Lolohea played for Tonga against Samoa in the Polynesian Cup, playing at fullback in Tonga's 18-16 loss at Cbus Super Stadium. In Round 18 against the Melbourne Storm, Lolohea scored one of the best tries of the 2015 season when he finished a sensational team try scored in the corner; Nathan Friend was upended and displayed his best acrobatic moves when he chased a Chad Townsend bomb kick and delivered a stunning back flip pass to Sam Tomkins, Tomkins passed the ball to Shaun Johnson, who flicked the ball back to Tomkins, who passed to David Fusitu'a for him to pass the ball to Lolohea to go over the line in the Warriors 28-14 win at Mt Smart Stadium. Lolohea finished the 2015 NRL season with him playing in 23 matches, scoring 11 tries and kicking 13 goals for the Warriors, while mid-season his contract was extended until the end of 2018.
On 8 September 2015, Lolohea was named in the New Zealand Kiwis' training squad. He would go on to be selected in the final 23-man squad for their tour of Great Britain. After the injuries to the key halves pairing of Kieran Foran and Shaun Johnson, the Kiwis were forced to search for a new halves pairing. Lolohea had recently been playing in the halfback role for the Warriors so he was chosen by Kearney to play at halfback with Peta Hiku being his partner in the halves. Many people were questioning the inexperience of the halves pairing but it was revealed by Stephen Kearney that the two halves were training together in secret during the NRL finals to become better adapted to the situation for the upcoming test series. He played in the first test against England, playing at halfback in the Kiwis' 26-12 loss at KC Stadium.
2016
In February, Lolohea played for the Warriors in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines.