Ben Te'o

Ben Te'o

Personal information
Full name	Benjamin Te'o
Born	(1987-01-27) 27 January 1987 Auckland, New Zealand
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	106 kg (16 st 10 lb)
Playing information
Rugby league
Position	Lock, Centre
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2007–08	Wests Tigers	36	10	0	0	40
2009–12	Brisbane Broncos	75	28	0	0	112
2013–14	South Sydney	40	5	0	0	20
	Total	151	43	0	0	172
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2008	Samoa	1	2	0	0	8
2012–14	Queensland	7	0	0	0	0
Rugby union
Position	Centre
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2014–2016	Leinster	16	4	0	0	20
2016–	Worcester
	Total	16	4	0	0	20
As of 6 October 2015
Source: NRL Stats

Ben Te'o (born 27 January 1987 in New Zealand) is a professional rugby union footballer who currently plays for Leinster. He previously played rugby league for the Wests Tigers, Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League competition, represented Samoa at international level and Queensland in the State of Origin series. In 2014 Te'o won the NRL premiership with the Rabbitohs before switching codes to play rugby union in Ireland at Leinster. In December 2015 it was announced that Te'o would move to Worcester Warriors at the end of the 2015/2016 season.

Background

Born in New Zealand, Te'o was a Hibiscus Coast Raiders junior, and was selected to play for the New Zealand Under 16's in 2003 and was also a member of the 2005 Junior Kiwis. He also played rugby union as a junior. Te'o moved to Australia at the age of 17 and lived on the Gold Coast, Queensland, playing rugby league football with Keebra Park State High School. His mother has English heritage.

Professional playing career

Wests Tigers

In the 2007 NRL season Te'o debuted for the Wests Tigers in Round 9 in their 27-8 win against the St George Illawarra Dragons at ANZ Stadium. Then the next week in Round 10 Te'o scored his first try ever in first grade in the Tigers 30-26 win against the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium. Te'o played 14 games and scored 2 tries in the 2007 NRL season. In September 2007, he was called into the New Zealand Kiwis train-on squad with several other Wests Tigers players but was not selected for the tour of Great Britain. Te'o scored his first 4 pointer for the year in Round 6 of the 2008 Rugby League Century Round with the Tigers winning 30-10 against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Sydney Cricket Ground. He later scored 2 tries in Tigers 34-22 loss to his future club the Brisbane Broncos at ANZ Stadium in Round 8. He scored his last points of 2008 when he scored 2 tries in the Tigers 56-4 win against the 2008 NRL wooden spooners the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium in Round 21. He played his final game for the Wests Tigers in the final round of the NRL 2008 Season in Round 26 in the Tigers 28-12 win against the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park. Te'o played 22 games and score 8 tries in the 2008 NRL season.

Te'o was named in the Samoa squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He was overlooked for the first two Samoa matches, however Te'o made his international debut on 9 November at CUA Stadium against France, scoring two tries.

Brisbane Broncos

Te'o signed with the Brisbane Broncos for the 2009 season. He made his debut for the Brisbane Broncos at Second Row in Round 1 against the North Queensland Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium. The Broncos won the game by a Peter Wallace field goal in their 19-18 win. He scored his try for the Broncos in Round 11 against his old club the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium. The Broncos won 20-18 in the wet conditions. A scored a double the next week in Brisbane's 58-24 win against the Penrith Panthers at Suncorp Stadium. Te'o played 18 games and scored 4 tries in his first year for the Broncos in 2009.

In May 2010 he was named in the Maroons squad to play against the Blues. Te'o pledged his allegiance to the Australia and the Queensland Maroons being named as the 18th man for Game 1.

It was announced on 5 June 2010, that Te'o had signed a contract extension which would see him remain at the Broncos until the end of the 2012 season.

On 2 May 2012, it was announced Te'o had agreed to terms with the South Sydney Rabbitohs up until the end of the 2015 NRL season. Later that year, he was selected to make Origin debut for the Maroons in game 3.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

Ben Te’o joined the Rabbitohs in 2013 off the back of his best season in the NRL with the Broncos the previous year. Te’o represented Queensland and was selected in the Australian squad in 2012. Keen to establish himself as a starting forward in the Rabbitohs pack in 2013.

In 2013 Te'o was the subject of media attention due to a woman's complaint to police for assault which he has contested. The woman's allegations were found out to be faulty.

Te'o played all three games of the 2013 State of Origin series from the interchange bench, helping Queensland extend their record for consecutive series victories to eight. In the 2014 pre-season Te'o played for the Rabbitohs in the 2014 NRL Auckland Nines tournament. He played from the interchange bench in all three games of the 2014 State of Origin series, which Queensland lost.

Ben Te'o scored a crucial try against the roosters in the semi final of the 2014 NRL finals series, upon returning from suspension for a chicken wing tackle on Sam Thaiday. Ben Te'o's form in the final rounds as well as his hard runs during the state of origin series, saw him become one of the most feared back rowers in the game thus reliving his attacking prowess he had developed whilst at the Brisbane broncos. On 4 June 2014, Te'o announced that he would be leaving the Rabbitohs at the end of the season. On 12 August Leinster Rugby announced Te'o had signed to play for them after the end of the 2014 NRL season.

Leinster

Ben Te'o broke his arm within the first twenty minutes of his Leinster Rugby professional debut. After only 3 weeks Ben Te'o was named in the starting squad for Leinster after coach Matt O'Connor described him as an outstanding athlete.

External links

• Ben Te'o at NRL.com
• Ben Te'o at the Rugby League Project