Jesse Sene-Lefao


Jesse Sene-Lefao is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
He has previously played for the Manly Sea Eagles and the Cronulla Sharks in the NRL.

Background

Sene-Lefao was born in Wellington, New Zealand.

Early years

Sene-Lefao is nephew of West Tigers centre Tim Simona, and cousin of North Queensland Cowboys centre Matthew Wright. Sene-Lefao is of Samoan descent.
Sene-Lefao played his junior football for the Penrith Brothers before being signed by the Penrith Panthers. Sene-Lefao played for the Panthers' NYC team in 2008 and 2009, scoring 15 tries in 38 games.

Playing career

2013

In 2013, Sene-Lefao joined the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. He made his NRL debut in the opening round of the season against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, playing off the interchange bench in the Sea Eagles 22-14 win. Sene-Lefao played his 2nd and last match for the year in round 8. He spent most the year playing for the team's New South Wales Cup team.

2014

Sene-Lefao was selected in the Sea Eagles inaugural 2014 NRL Auckland Nines squad. He made his international debut in May for Samoa in the test against Fiji at Penrith Stadium. Sene-Lefao played off the interchange bench in Samoa's 32-16 win. Soon after, Sene-Lefao re-signed with the Sea Eagles on a 2-year contract.
In Round 13 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Brookvale Oval, Sene-Lefao scored his first NRL career try in the Sea Eagles 32-10 win. It was the sole try he scored from 25 matches in 2014. At the end of the season, Sene-Lefao was a late selection for Samoa in the Four Nations after Suaia Matagi was selected in the New Zealand national rugby league team squad.

2015

Sene-Lefao was again part of the Sea Eagles Auckland Nines squad in 2015. He scored 2 tries from his 11 matches in 2015. On 9 October, Sene-Lefao signed a 2-year contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, starting from 2016 after he was released from his final year of his contract with Manly.

2016

Sene-Lefao played 6 games for the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks in 2016. He was a vital squad member for the Sharks in 2016, filling in for captain Paul Gallen during the semis, and the injured Sam Tagataese towards the end of the season. Although he did not play in Cronulla's 2016 drought breaking premiership win, Sene-lefao is regarded by the boys as the rock that held the team together during the end of the season
On 21 October 2016, Sene-Lefao signed a two year contract that will see him be at the Castleford Tigers until 2018.

2017

He played in the 2017 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.