Rugby League

Grandmaster crash: NRL wrecking ball's love for chess

By George Clarke

Jul 25, 2026

NRL — Oregon Kaufusi has a love for chess which helps him pass time in transit, and plot his next move.-AAP Image

Oregon Kaufusi isn't in the business of giving much away which is probably a habit the softly-spoken Cronulla prop picked up from his favourite pastime - chess.

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Kaufusi has been a mainstay at the Sharks since joining from Parramatta in 2023 but the industrious prop is usually happier to keep a low profile.

Except that is, until the 26-year-old gets talking about his favourite hobby which he uses to pass time on bus trips or interstate flights with Cronulla.

Kaufusi tends to play chess online against randomly-assigned opponents, but the one thing he craves is to score a victory over teammate Addin Fonua-Blake, the Sharks' own grandmaster.

"I love me a bit of chess, Addin got me into it and I want to keep my streak up," Kaufusi told AAP.

"Whenever there's free time, I jump on it and play a couple games, and it's not until I lose back to back that it's time to jump off.

"I sometimes give Addin a game but I still haven't beaten him and mostly I'm playing against randoms and my Elo level isn't very high.

"My older brother taught me the rules and everything but I never played at a club, it was just a hobby.

"I've watched a lot of YouTube videos to understand the openings and plays, but I'm nothing special.

"I'd never watched the Queen's Gambit until my missus got me onto it … she went and bought me a cheap little board from K-Mart."

Kaufusi is used to calculating his next move on a chessboard and may be forced to think hard about his Test career with a Rugby League World Cup on the horizon.

The front-rower was part of the Samoan side that reached the 2022 World Cup but hasn't played international football since then and also qualifies for Tonga through his father.

"I was really close with (Samoa captain) Junior Paulo when I was at Parramatta and he asked me if I was keen," Kaufusi said.

"My mother's father passed away in 2019 and I was very close with him and I thought it was a good chance to represent him.

"I'm not so sure (who I'd play for later this year), I just need to play my footy because there's a lot of good players on both sides and there'll be strong competition."

Kaufusi has been named to come off the bench in Sunday's game against Manly where Cronulla will hope to strengthen their grip on a top-four spot with an eighth win from their past nine games.

"I think we're slowly finding our groove, and it's a good time with us trying to cement that spot in the finals … we're just keeping each other accountable and aren't afraid to tell each other the truth," Kaufusi added.