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| Full name | Esan Nike Marsters-Siavale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1996-08-17)17 August 1996 (age 28) Auckland, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 15 st 10 lb (100 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre, stand-off | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[1] As of 3 October 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Steven Marsters (cousin) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esan Marsters (born 17 August 1996) is a professionalrugby league footballer who plays as acentre orstand-off for theSalford Red Devils in theSuper League. He has played for theCook Islands,New Zealand and theNew Zealand Māori at international level.
He previously played for theWests Tigers,North Queensland Cowboys and theGold Coast Titans in theNational Rugby League.
Marsters was born inAuckland, New Zealand, and is ofCook Island andMāori descent.[2]
He played forMount Albert Lions in New Zealand, later saying, "I played in the halves growing up. I was a five-eighth, likeBenji. That’s where I get my ball skills from. Then I moved over to Sydney from Auckland when I was 17 and got switched to the centres. I was bigger than a lot of the other kids and they wanted to use me out wide."[3] Marsters picked up a contract with theSydney Roosters to train with theirSG Ball team. After spending a season with Roosters SG Ball team he was cut and signed a contract with theWests TigersNYC team.[4]
In 2015 and 2016, Marsters played for the Wests Tigers'NYC team.
Marsters played for theCook Islands in their2015 match against Tonga. In 2016 he represented theJunior Kiwis in a match against the Junior Kangaroos.[5]
He graduated to the Wests Tigers'Intrust Super Premiership NSW team in 2017.
On 6 May, Marsters represented theCook Islands in their2017 Pacific Rugby League Tests match.
In Round 13, Marsters made hisNRL debut for the Wests Tigers against theSt George Illawarra Dragons, playing off the interchange bench in the 16–12 loss atANZ Stadium. After playing on the bench for his first 2 games, he was in the starting team for the rest of the season, where he was described as, "a revelation at right centre".[6] He scored 5 tries from 13 games in his rookie year.
Marsters was said to be one of the most improved players in the game in 2018, and, "has been stellar in 2018, to the point he made his New Zealand Test debut and has claims on being one of the form centres right across the NRL."[7] He was one of two players to appear in every game for the Tigers and was their top point-scorer with 124.[8]The Daily Telegraph named in their team of the year, saying, "he was the only centre to crack 3000 metres gained and his 126 metres per match was the biggest average of any centre who played at least 15 games. He also lead all centres in offloads with 49 and was fifth in tackle busts with 65."[9]
In round 4, Marsters missed all three attempts at goal in a 9–8 loss to thePenrith Panthers, despite theWests Tigers scoring two tries to Penrith's one. In round 9, Marsters scored two tries and kicked 3 goals in a 30–4 win over Penrith.[10][11] In Round 20, he scored two tries in a 28–4 win overNorth Queensland atLeichhardt Oval.[12]
On 10 October, theWests Tigers released Marsters from the final year of his contract.[13] On 14 October, he signed a three-year deal with theNorth Queensland Cowboys.[14]
In February, Marsters was a member of the North Queensland2020 NRL Nines winning squad.[15]
In round 1, he made his debut for North Queensland in their 21–28 loss to theBrisbane Broncos.[16] In Round 6, he scored his first try for North Queensland in a 20–36 loss to theWests Tigers.[17] Following their round 10 loss to thePenrith Panthers, Marsters was dropped by interim head coachJosh Hannay.[18] It was said, "Brought to Townsville to sharpen the Cowboys lacking backline and provide more attacking threats on the edges, Marsters struggled to live up to the hype. Defensive lapses plagued his start at the club, with his combination on the right side with Kyle Feldt the worst in the competition for conceding tries."[19] He made just two more appearances for the North Queensland in 2020, scoring a try in their round 18 loss to theMelbourne Storm.[20] Interim coachJosh Hannay explaining his absence by saying, "He is an extremely gifted player, Esan, but he can clock off at times out on the field. We have had some honest discussions around his work rate and consistency in that area."[19]
On 4 May, after just three games for the North Queensland club in the2021 NRL season, Marsters was released from his contract and signed with theGold Coast until the end of the 2022 season.[21]
On 17 September, Marsters signed a contract to join English sideHuddersfield starting in 2023.[22]
Marsters played 20 matches with Huddersfield in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished ninth on the table and missed the playoffs, Marsters scored his first Huddersfield try in a round 10 defeat to Hull FC.[23]
On 25 May 2024 it was reported that he had signed forSalford in theSuper League on a three-year deal.[24]Marsters played 22 games for Huddersfield in the 2024 Super League season as the club finished 9th on the table, despite this Marsters scored 8 tries and was impressive enough to earn a call up for theCook Islands in the 2024Rugby League Pacific championships.[25]
| Season | Team | Matches | T | G | GK % | F/G | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 |  Wests Tigers | 13 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 20 |
| 2018 | 24 | 3 | 56 | 75.68% | 0 | 12 | |
| 2019 | 24 | 9 | 40 | 65.57% | 0 | 36 | |
| 2020 |  North Queensland Cowboys | 12 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 8 |
| 2021 | North Queensland Cowboys | 3 | |||||
 Gold Coast Titans | 5 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| 2022 | Gold Coast Titans | 5 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 2023 |  Huddersfield Giants | 21 | 3 | 12 | |||
| 2024 | 22 | 7 | 28 | ||||
| 2025 |  Salford Red Devils | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career totals | 122 | 30 | 96 | 71.11% | 0 | 284 | |
| Season | Team | Matches | T | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 |  Cook Islands | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 4 | |||
| 2023 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2024 | 2 | |||
| Totals | 10 | 2 | 8 |
| Year | Team | Games | Tries | Goals | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 |  New Zealand | 5 | 3 | 12 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 5 | 10 | ||
| Totals | 6 | 3 | 5 | 22 |
Marsters' cousin,Steven, is a professional rugby league player for theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs.[28]
