Rugby union convert Mele Hufanga earned a Kiwi Ferns call-up for the Rugby League World Cup at the end of 2022 from Ponsonby Ponies, before attaining NRLW stardom the following season.
A mainstay for the Auckland side in the Farah Palmer Cup, Hufanga represented Counties Manukau in 2020 and the Blues Super Rugby team in 2022.
Proving her adaptability to the 13-a-side code, the hard-running back racked up 30 points (three tries, nine goals) in Tonga’s 66-8 defeat of Niue in a 2020 rugby league Test at Mt Smart Stadium.
Hufanga captained the Tongan rugby union team at the 2022 Oceania Championships, but her performances for the Ponies in the ARL competition later in the year saw the 28-year-old get the nod for New Zealand’s World Cup squad.
She was one of the tournament’s breakout stars. After being named to make her Test debut on the wing against Cook Islands and scored two tries, Hufanga moved to centre for the pool match against Australia and produced a player of the match performance in the semi-final win over England – including a try, running for 185 metres and recording 13 tackle-breaks – before playing in the final loss to the Jillaroos.
Hufanga was subsequently snapped up by Brisbane Broncos for the 2023 NRLW and made a staggering impact in the centres. The barnstorming ball-runner’s tally of 10 tries (second in the competition) in 10 games included an NRLW record-equalling four in a big win over North Queensland. Hufanga also racked up 14 line-breaks, 71 tackle-breaks and averaged 121 metres for the semi-finalists. A place in the Kiwi Ferns’ Pacific Championships squad was a formality.
She was one of the stars of the post-season campaign once again, scoring a powerhouse try in the loss to the Jillaroos in Townsville, dotting down against Tonga at Eden Park and scoring again in the sensational defeat of Australia in Melbourne, while averaging 148 running metres and racking up an incredible 32 tackle-breaks.
Hufunga was similarly dominant for the Broncos in 2024 – chalking up seven tries, 10 line-breaks, 62 tackle-breaks and 113 metres per game – to shape as a Kiwi Ferns trump card ahead of the Pacific Championships, celebrating her 30th birthday just nine days out from their opener against the Jillaroos in Christchurch, where she was relatively well-contained in a 14-0 loss but nevertheless racked up a team-high seven tackle-breaks.
She produced two try assists in the subsequent 36-0 rout of Papua New Guinea and laid on the Kiwi Ferns’ only try in the 24-4 loss to Australia in the final, as well as running for a team-high 174 metres.
