Blues and Maori All Blacks utility forward Cameron Suafoa has announced his retirement from the game due to a terminal cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n
The Auckland-based franchise confirmed the heartbreaking news via a video on their website and official social media channels.<\/p>\n
Suafoa<\/a> was initially diagnosed in November 2023 with high-grade sarcoma, which is a form of cancer in his connective tissue.<\/p>\n That resulted in the 27-year-old receiving six weeks of radiation treatment after he underwent surgery to have a malignant tumour removed from his back.<\/p>\n Returned to action in 2024<\/p>\n He\u2019d since made a recovery, returning to action with the New Zealand<\/a> National Provincial Championship (NPC) outfit North Harbour in 2024, before also representing the Blues<\/a> the following year.<\/p>\n However, his world came crashing down again when he received a second cancer diagnosis at the end of the Blues\u2019 2025 Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve decided to finish playing rugby officially, decided to retire, the unfortunate news that my cancer had spread and it was terminal now,\u201d Suafoa revealed.<\/p>\n \u201cI will be going through a different type of battle soon so I start having chemo in the coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n All Blacks: Beauden Barrett identifies one of the Springboks\u2019 key strengths ahead of Greatest Rivalry series<\/a><\/p>\n Suafoa, who is adept at lock or in the back-row, started his NPC career with Auckland in 2019 before he moved to Tasman the next year, eventually joining North Harbour in 2022.<\/p>\n Maori All Blacks debut in 2022<\/p>\n He also represented the Maori All Blacks three times after making his debut against Ireland in Hamilton in 2022.<\/p>\n