Karlos Filiga ( McNichol; born 16 October 1988 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played for Cronulla-Sutherland in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. Filiga primarily played at centre or in second-row. As of 2024, he is a Personal Trainer in Cooma.[citation needed]

Karl Filiga
Personal information
Full nameKarlos Filiga
BornKarlos McNichol
(1988-10-16) 16 October 1988 (age 36)
Wellington, New Zealand
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight105 kg (16 st 7 lb)
Playing information
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008 Cronulla Sharks 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 27 January 2021

Early life

edit

Filiga was born in New Zealand. His father is Australian and his mother is Samoan. Filiga changed his last name from McNichol to his mother's maiden name of Filiga.[2]

Playing career

edit

In 2007, Filiga was labelled by his manager as "the next Sonny Bill Williams".[3][4]

Cronulla won a bidding war in late 2007 for Filiga, committing to a A$600,000 contract over three years. Filiga, previously a Bulldogs junior playing for the Chester Hill Hornets, didn't make his debut in first-grade in 2007 as he spent most of the season sidelined with chest and foot injuries.[5]

In 2008, the first year of his three-year Cronulla contract, Filiga's NRL appearances were limited by his form. He spent only 11 minutes on the field in the NRL, playing off the bench in a match against Penrith in round 13.[3]

Cronulla Sharks released Filiga on "compassionate grounds" in April 2009.[6] It is estimated that Filiga's 11-minute NRL career cost Cronulla A$20,000 per minute.[6]

Filiga then went to play for the Wentworthville Magpies, who are the feeder club for the Parramatta Eels NRL Side.

As of 2017, Filiga plays for The Cooma Stallions.[7]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Karl Filiga - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". Rugbyleagueproject.org.
  2. ^ "Stuart's Cronulla close to being very scary". LeagueHQ. 26 February 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2008. [dead link]
  3. ^ a b James Hooper (19 October 2008). "Cronulla's $200,000 lemon". Fox Sports News (Australia). Retrieved 28 December 2008. [dead link]
  4. ^ Phelps, James (27 December 2007). "Rookies ready to rumble". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
  5. ^ Proszenko, Adrian (7 October 2007). "Mummy's boy out to make name for himself". Fairfax Digital. Retrieved 3 January 2008. [dead link]
  6. ^ a b Dean Ritchie (24 April 2009). "Cronulla release Karl Filinga on compassionate grounds". Fox Sports News (Australia). Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  7. ^ Logue, Matt (24 July 2017). "Bush Beat: SBW clone leads Cooma charge". Daily Telegraph.
edit