Sam Stewart

Samuel Weka Stewart (born 5 December 1962), also known by the nicknames of "Slammin' Sam" and "Wheka", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. He played for the Newcastle Knights when they first started competing in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership and became the Knights first captain.

Playing career Stewart was a Wellington Rugby League player for the Randwick club. He made his senior and Wellington debut's in 1981 and was a Junior Kiwi that same year. On the Junior Kiwis 1981 tour of Australia, Stewart signed a contract to play with the North Sydney Bears, however, later opted to instead pursue his career in the New Zealand Police.

Stewart was named one of the Wellington Rugby League's players of the year in 1983. He toured Great Britain and France for the New Zealand Universities side. In 1984, Stewart was first selected for the Central Districts team. Stewart was part of Randwick's hat trick of Wellington Rugby League premierships between 1983 and 1985.

In 1993, Stewart travelled to England and joined the London Crusaders before spending time with Hull Kingston Rovers.

Representative career Stewart played for the Wellington and New Zealand Māori sides, captaining the Māori at the 1986 Pacific Cup.

Stewart played for the New Zealand national rugby league team from 1985 until 1989. He was first selected for the 1985 tour of Great Britain and France, playing in eleven games on tour. He also toured Australia and Papua New Guinea in 1986 and 1987 and competed in the 1988 World Cup. Before finishing his career in 1989 with tests against Australia and a tour of Great Britain and France. Stewart finished his career having played in sixteen test matches and forty games in total. In 2008, he participated in a bike ride from Burleigh to Bondi to raise money for prostate cancer.

Legacy In 2012, he was named in the Wellington Rugby League's Team of the Century.