Demitric Vaimauga

Highly-rated back rower Demitric Sifakula moved into the One New Zealand Warriors’ fulltime NRL squad in February after being secured to the end of the 2025 season. The Otahuhu Leopards junior was upgraded from a development contract after first being signed by the club as a 15-year-old.
He impressed in his debut for the club when he started in the second row in the 48-12 Preseason Challenge win over Wests Tigers at Go Media Stadium in February and was also used in the final trial against Melbourne in Christchurch a week later.
After outstanding performances with the New South Wales Cup side, Sifakula was selected to make his NRL debut as Warrior #280 in the ninth-round match against the Roosters. He had a 19-minute stint off the bench and reprised the role the following week against Penrith when he had 23 minutes off the bench making 34 metres from four runs with three tackle breaks, and off load and 20 tackles without a miss. He returned for a third outing in the round 13 clash against Brisbane in Napier but the rest of his campaign was hampered by knee injuries including a season-ending ACL setback.
In his 12 New South Wales Cup appearances this year he scored four tries while averaging 93 metres and 26 tackles a game with five line breaks and 38 tackle breaks.
Sifakula juggled rugby league and rugby union at school level when he played for De La Salle College’s First XV. Re-signed by the One New Zealand Warriors as a 17-year-old, he was based in Australia training with the club in 2022 where he made his debut for feeder club Redcliffe in the Queensland colts’ competition.
He featured in each of the Dolphins’ last six matches of the season, scoring two tries – one of them in the side’s grand final defeat – and averaging 105 metres and making 28 tackle breaks.