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Mike Egerton / PA Images via Getty Images
Leeds Rhinos’ New Zealand-born prop Ava Seumanufagai with the Challenge Cup trophy after the 2020 grand final over Salford.
Ava Seumanufagai, a former Wellington-born NRL pillar, left the Leeds Rhinos to be with her daughter in Australia after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Leeds confirmed that 29-year-old Wainuiomata Lions, winner of the 2020 Challenge Cup final with the Rhinos, had been released from the final year of his contract in order to stay with his daughter.
British reports indicated that Seumanufagai had requested his release because travel restrictions during the pandemic would have made it difficult for him to see his son.
LEEDS RHINOS
New Zealand-born Ava Seumanufagai proposed her victory in the Challenge Cup at Wembley.
“We are sorry to see him leave the club, but we fully support and understand his decision,” said Leeds rugby director Kevin Sinfield.
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Richard Sellers / PA Images via Getty Images
Ava Seumanufagai (left) of Leeds Rhinos is tackled by a Castleford defender.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has had many profound impacts on our sport, and I am sure that in normal times, Ava would be happy to stay at Rhinos for many more years. We have been in contact with Ava since she returned home, so we were both aware of the latest situation with the pandemic.
“He was aware of how much we still think about him, but we understood the position he was in. Now he has decided to stay in Australia and is leaving with our best wishes. He remains a friend of the club.
Seumanufagai, of Samoan descent, moved from Wellington to Sydney as a teenager and played for the Parramatta Eels age group teams.
Matt King / Getty Images
Ava Seumanufagai at the Wests Tigers blast in 2014.
He made his NRL debut in 2013 for Wests Tigers, where he recorded 103 first-grade appearances.
Seumanufagi later traded to Cronulla, playing 13 times for the Sharks before joining Leeds in 2019.
Mark Kolbe / Getty Images
Ava Seumanufagai of the Sharks is tackled by the Canberra Raiders in 2018.
He played 32 games for the Rhinos and said in a social media post “that winning the Challenge Cup final was his” definitive highlight “of his time with Leeds and that he” had loved being part of a great club. “
“Sadly, I made the decision to shorten my time so that I could be home with my young son. With Covid-19 restrictions continuing through next year, the option to travel back and forth seems almost impossible.”
Seumanufagai thanked “everyone who let me go home, eat and use their Wi-Fi.”
Leeds’ 17-16 victory in the Challenge Cup final over the Salford Red Devils was Seumanufagai’s first title and first final in eight first-grade rugby league seasons.
He choked on excitement in a video interview with the Leeds Rhinos website as he dedicated his Wembley win to “my young man in Australia.”
Alan Crowhurst / PA Images via Getty Images
Jockey Tom Marquant rides a horse named Ava Seumanufagai to win the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot Racecourse in October 2020.
On the same day that he collected his winner’s medal at Wembley, a horse named Ava Seumanufagai won the Qipco Champion Stakes at the famous Ascot Racecourse in nearby Berkshire.
Leeds covered Seumanufagai’s departure by signing Kiwi midfielder Zane Tetevano, NRL title winner with the Roosters, from the Penrith Panthers on a three-year deal.
