Bunty Afoa

With links with Bay Roskill, Mount Albert and Point Chevalier, Bunty took up the code late but quickly emerged as a player of distinct promise during his time at St Paul's College, New Zealand's famed rugby league nursery.

He was a standout for the then-Vodafone Junior Warriors, making more than 60 NYC appearances from 2014-2016 and having a taste of New South Wales Cup football along the way. He was on the bench in the NYC premiership-winning side in 2014 and was awarded the Sonny Fai Medal as the club's NYC player of the year in 2015.

Such was his development, he was called up for his NRL debut against Gold Coast as a 19-year-old in 2016. In his second outing, playing on the edge, he scored a double against the Sea Eagles in Perth during a season which was also marked by him making his Test debut for Toa Samoa in Apia.

After four matches that season he became a first-grade regular in 2017, making 17 appearances and winning the club’s NRL rookie of the year accolade. While his preference was to play in the front row, he was used predominantly in the second row during the campaign.

A terrific off season saw Bunty truly cement himself as a front-line player in 2018 when he figured in all but two of the Warriors' 25 matches. He relished reverting to his front row role, starting a number of games but mainly being used from the interchange.

Afoa finished 2018 just six appearances short of the 50-game milestone. He impressed as the club's most effective defender and was also one of the team's leading players in the post contact metres category.

Bunty made his 50th appearance as anticipated in 2019 and took his career tally to 64 games. He was again potent off the bench, averaging 90 metres and 24 tackles a game. He was again selected to represent Toa Samoa.

His plans for a big 2020 campaign were wrecked when he suffered a season-ending knee injury during the preseason but he worked hard to earn a bench role in the opening round of the 2021 season going on to make 20 appearances.

In 2022 he played all 24 games, becoming the Warriors' 28th 100-game player and achieving the feat on one of the most significant game days in the club's history - their homecoming match against Wests Tigers on July 3, 2022. It was the first time the Warriors had played at Mount Smart Stadium in 1038 days due the impact of the Covid era.

He added another 21 appearances in 2023 and is now in sight of becoming just the 13th player to play 150 games for the Warriors.

While he has been used predominantly in shorter stints from the bench throughout his career, Afoa still averages 24 tackles a game and stands out as one the NRL's most effective defenders with a 96.25% success rate (just 128 missed tackles in 138 games to July 2024). He has run more than 10,400 metres, an average of 74 a game, a big percentage of them back-of-the-fence full throttle charges.

Renowned for his big hair, Bunty comes from a large family of nine brothers and six sisters.