Jacob Laban

Jacob Laban (born 17 April 2004) is a Samoan rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Jacob Laban

Personal information
Full name	Jacob Laban
Born	(2004-04-17) 17 April 2004 (age 21) Motoʻotua, Samoa
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	110 kg (17 st 5 lb)
Playing information
Position	Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2024– New Zealand Warriors 19 2 0 0 8
Source: [1]

Background

Jacob Laban was born in Moto'otua, Samoa on 17th April 2004, before moving to New Zealand at the age of four. Laban was educated at St Bernard's College, Lower Hutt before moving to Auckland in 2021 to complete his year 13 studies at Kelston Boys' High School. He played his junior rugby league for the Randwick Kingfishers.

He is related to Ken Laban.^[2]

Career

Laban made his first grade debut in his side's 34−4 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs in round 5 of the 2024 NRL season.

During a match in NSW cup, Laban was sent off after a melee with Canberra Raiders player Corey Horsburgh when Horsburgh and Laban came to blows.^[3]

On 30 September 2024, Laban was named in the NSW Cup team of the year.^[4]

2025

On 21 May, the New Zealand Warriors announced that Laban had re-signed with the club until the end of the 2029 season.^[5] He played 12 games with New Zealand in the 2025 NRL season as the club finished 6th on the table and qualified for the finals. They were eliminated by Penrith in the first week of the finals.^[6]

On 1 August, Laban was injured after fracturing his leg as a result of an illegal tackle by Dolphins prop Felise Kaufusi.^[7] The tackle was ruled as a grade two dangerous contact charge and Kaufusi was hit with a two-match ban.^[8]