The 24-year-old centre currently plays for the Leigh Leopards in England\u2019s Super League, where he scored 12 tries in 25 games last year.<\/p>\n
A person claiming to be his partner Kiani posted photos to Niu\u2019s own Instagram, as well as a lengthy post claiming she was expecting their third child. The claims in the posts are unsubstantiated.<\/p>\n
The person subsequently expressed remorse for the post:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Kiani. You might think I\u2019m crazy but I\u2019ve spent 5 years with Tesi and loved him unconditionally. He made me crazy and I\u2019m so tired and sick of it,\u201d the person wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know what I want out of this. This is so out of character for me. I\u2019m crying my eyes out posting this because idk (I don\u2019t know) how I could do this to Tesi.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he has literally broken me in every way possible and I\u2019m finally so angry. I\u2019ve used up every ounce of love and understanding left in me and I don\u2019t know what to do anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand this is so detrimental to his career but I have dedicated the last five years to Tesi and his career and I\u2019m just so broken. I don\u2019t want to carry this with me through life. I want to leave his baggage on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The posts were subsequently shared on social media and the Leigh Leopards issued a statement on Thursday morning (AEDT), stating the club has acted to ensure Niu and his partner were being \u201cfully supported\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Leigh Leopards said in a statement: \u201cThe club is aware of social media activity of concern from one of its player\u2019s account, that of Tesi Niu.<\/p>\n
Club owner Derek Beaumont said: \u201cThe club can confirm that the player\u2019s account was accessed externally and without his knowledge or consent and deleted a short period thereafter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were instantly aware of this as it happened. As a club we have policies and procedures and employ a Player Welfare Manager who is a qualified counsellor. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur first port of call in these circumstances is to ensure the welfare of our player and any external party that may be involved. This was immediately initiated. <\/p>\n
\u201cHaving since personally spoken with Tesi and Kiana individually and at length and then our Player Welfare Manager and Head Coach, I am completely satisfied that they are both being fully supported. <\/p>\n
\u201cI can also confirm that there is no official complaint to the club regarding the player nor to any relevant authorities. To that end the club will make no further statements about the matter and would welcome supporters\u2019 trust in the clubs\u2019 processes and findings.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rugby Football League (RFL), the governing body for rugby league in England said in a statement provided to news.com.au: \u201cThe RFL are aware of the social media posts. We will not be making further comment at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Niu\u2019s Instagram and Facebook profiles have since been deleted.<\/p>\n
Niu, who was born in Brisbane and came through the Broncos pathway system before debuting in 2020, has also played three Tests for Tonga.<\/p>\n
Niu began his NRL career at the Brisbane Broncos, playing 32 games across three seasons before moving to the Dolphins, playing 24 games in two seasons with the expansion side.<\/p>\n
The former Australian schoolboys player moved to England in January last year with his partner and their two young children.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it has been tough because the boys and the club have made it much easier for us,\u201d Niu told sportsboom.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a few options before I signed for Leigh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted a new start with the way my career was going and seeing what the team has done and what Lammy (head coach Adrian Lam) has done in the game, I thought they could take my career to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a player that gives his all,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWeek in, week out, I put my body on the line for the boys and try to put in good performances. But I have to work to earn my spot and fight for my jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 Super League season begins in February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tesi Niu\u2019s rugby league future appears assured after the owner of his Super League club said no official…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[212975,64,63,689,212977,651,4428,212981,1208,2057,2456,212979,795,761,762,3583,158,677,212980,212982,212978,701,1314,53207,79241,91229,85,212976],"class_list":["post-402775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-adrian-lam","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-schoolboys-player","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-broncos","tag-derek-beaumont","tag-england","tag-europe","tag-facebook","tag-footy-star","tag-inc","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-northern-europe","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-official-complaint","tag-pathway-system","tag-posts-pic","tag-queensland","tag-social-media","tag-social-media-account","tag-social-media-activity","tag-social-media-posts","tag-sports","tag-ugly-accusations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}