Junior Amone

Talatau Junior Amone (born 10 April 2002) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who last played as a for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Background
Amone played his junior rugby league for the Western Suburbs Red Devils. He is of Tongan descent.

2021
Amone made his debut in round 9 of the 2021 NRL season for St. George Illawarra against Canterbury-Bankstown, scoring a try on debut in a 32-12 victory. Amone made eleven appearances for the club throughout the season as the club finished 11th and missed out on the finals.

2022
In round 22 of the 2022 NRL season, Amone scored a hat-trick in St. George's 24-22 loss against the Canberra Raiders. On Thursday 11 August 2022, Amone signed a Contract Extension with the Saints until the end of the 2024 NRL season. In round 23, Amone scored two tries in a 46-26 victory over the Gold Coast Titans.

2023
Amone played his first game of the season on 1 April after being stood down by the NRL, St. George Illawarra beat the Dolphins 38-12. Amone played 19 games for the club in the 2023 NRL season where they finished 16th on the table.

Statistics
* denotes season still competing

Criminal conviction
In December 2022, Amone was charged with reckless grievous bodily harm in company, destroying property and intimidation following an alleged attack on a roofing contractor at Warrawong on 15 November 2022. He was initially stood down from playing under the NRL no-fault stand-down policy, but he was allowed to play after his case was moved from the district court to Wollongong Local Court, where he would face a maximum sentence of five years if found guilty on all charges. That maximum sentence is below the threshold of the no-fault stand-down policy. On 18 October 2023 Amone was found guilty of all charges. On 19 December 2023, Amone was served with a breach notice by the NRL preventing him from being contracted in the league for 12 months, after being sentenced to two years imprisonment by way of an intensive corrections order and 300 hours of community service.