24 Facts About Awen Guttenbeil

Awen Guttenbeil was born on 14 March 1976 and is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s.

Awen Guttenbeil represented both the Tongan and New Zealand national sides in his long career and played in two World Cups.

Awen Guttenbeil was an integral part of the 2002 New Zealand Warriors squad, noted for being the first team in the club's history to make the NRL Grand Final.

Awen Guttenbeil now owns and operates several construction businesses in New Zealand including Passive Fire NZ.

Awen Guttenbeil started playing rugby league football for the Portland Panthers at age 3 in Northland before moving to Auckland and playing for the Point Chevalier Pirates alongside future Warriors teammate, Stacey Jones.

Awen Guttenbeil was chased by several professional clubs after an Auckland Development Tour of Australia in 1993 and ended up moving to Sydney at the age of 17 to sign for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles under the then Australian coach, Bob Fulton.

In 1995, Awen Guttenbeil made his international debut, playing for Tonga in the 1995 World Cup.

Awen Guttenbeil was set to star for Manly but his decision to sign with the yet to be formed Super League competition saw him out of favour with the club and so he returned to New Zealand to play for the Auckland Warriors in 1996.

Awen Guttenbeil made his first grade debut in round four of the 1996 ARL season.

Awen Guttenbeil switched his international allegiance to New Zealand and was in line to play for the Kiwis in 1996 but injury ruled him out of his Kiwis debut that year.

Awen Guttenbeil played for Tonga at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.

Awen Guttenbeil played at second-row forward in the Warriors' 2002 NRL Grand Final loss to the Sydney Roosters.

Awen Guttenbeil went on to become one of the longest serving Warriors, playing eleven seasons with the club and became the second player to ever receive a testimonial from the club, the first being Stacey Jones.

Awen Guttenbeil was the only player in the club's history to have a playing jersey designed for him.

Awen Guttenbeil went on to play in ten Test matches for the Kiwis, playing his last in 2005.

Awen Guttenbeil signed with the Castleford Tigers for the 2006 season, expecting to play in the Super League.

Awen Guttenbeil decided to uphold his contract and help the Tigers seek promotion.

Awen Guttenbeil moved to England to join the club as a player and assistant coach to Terry Matterson Guttenbeil played in the National League One Grand Final in 2007 and scored 2 tries to help promote Castleford back to the Super League.

In 2008 Awen Guttenbeil again played for Tonga, competing in the 2008 World Cup where he captained the squad in the game against New Zealand.

Awen Guttenbeil worked as a broadcaster for SKY Network Television from 2009 to 2014 and for Maori Television's sports show, Code from 2009 to 2013.

In 2014 Awen Guttenbeil moved out of broadcasting to focus on running several construction companies in New Zealand, focusing on construction and passive fire work in the Auckland area.

Awen Guttenbeil has been an ambassador for White Ribbon New Zealand since 2010.

In 2010 a prankster posing as Wairangi Koopu led to news articles claiming that Awen Guttenbeil was joining the AMNRL.

Awen Guttenbeil was named in the line up for the 2011 Charity Boxing match Fight for Life which pits retired and current rugby league players against players from the rugby union code.