Born: February 13, 1987 – Auckland
Test record: 15 Tests (2009-10, 2013) – 5 tries (20 points)
Tours: 2009 Four Nations, 2010 Four Nations, 2013 World Cup

Mangere East Hawks junior Frank-Paul Nuuausala played 15 Tests for New Zealand from 2009-13 during an eight-season stint with Sydney Roosters that garnered an NRL premiership.

At just 17, the powerful forward played for Otahuhu-Ellerslie in the 2004 Bartercard Cup and represented Junior Kiwis.

Nuuausala was on a development contract with the Warriors but his NRL debut eventually came in 2007 with the rebuilding Roosters. He featured in the club’s 2008 finals campaign and despite plummeting to the wooden spoon the following season, Nuuausala earned selection in the Kiwis’ 2009 Four Nations squad.

The 22-year-old debuted at prop in a warm-up Test against Tonga and scored tries in the 20-all draw with Australia and the 62-12 win over France, while he held his front-row spot for the 2010 Anzac Test.

Dubbed ‘Frank-Paul the Wrecking Ball’, he played all 28 games of the Roosters’ 2010 campaign that ended with a grand final lost to St George Illawarra, before turning out in all four matches of New Zealand’s triumphant Four Nations campaign.

Nuuausala plateaued over the next two seasons but featured in the Roosters’ run to the 2013 title, earning a Kiwis recall for the end-of-year World Cup in the process. He came off the bench in all six matches at the tournament, scoring two tries in a pool win over France and dotting down again in the group stage-closing defeat of Papua New Guinea. The loss to Australia in the final at Old Trafford would be his last appearance in the black-and-white jersey.

After another strong season for the Roosters at lock in 2014, Nuuausala linked with Canberra and played every game in 2015. The veteran left the Raiders midway through 2016 and won a Super League grand final with Wigan that year, before playing in the club’s Challenge Cup final loss in 2017.

Nuuausala was released by Wigan in early-2018 but his return to the Roosters garnered just two interchange appearances, hanging up the boots after 233 appearances in top flight in Australia and England.

Frank-Paul’s sister, Annetta-Claudia Nuuausala, represented the Kiwi Ferns and Samoa at Test level in the 2020s, as well as featuring in the NRLW for the Warriors, Newcastle Knights and Brisbane Broncos.