| Lorenzo Ma'afu | |
| Fullname: | Lorenzo Ma'afu |
| Birth Date: | 13 November 1987 |
| Birth Place: | New Zealand |
| Height: | 181cm (71inches) |
| Weight: | 100kg (200lb) |
| Year1start: | 2008 |
| Appearances1: | 2 |
| Tries1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Fieldgoals1: | 0 |
| Points1: | 0 |
| Yearastart: | 2011 |
| Appearancesa: | 1 |
| Triesa: | 0 |
| Goalsa: | 0 |
| Fieldgoalsa: | 0 |
| Pointsa: | 0 |
| Updated: | 5 January 2024 |
| Source: | [1] |
Lorenzo Ma'afu (born 13 November 1987) 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.[2]
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.
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.
In 2009, he joined the Ipswich Jets in the Intrust Super Cup.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5]
In September 2012, Ma'afu signed a two-year contract with the Parramatta Eels.[6]
In 2015, Ma'afu joined Townsville and played two seasons with the club.
In 2017, Ma'afu joined Burleigh and made 12 appearances during the 2017 season.[7]
In 2021, it was reported that Ma'afu was playing for the Mudgeeraba Redbacks in the local Gold Coast A-Grade competition.
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.[8]