Elijah Niko
| Date of birth | 11 September 1990 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Wellington, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 107 kg (236 lb) | ||||||||||||||||
| School | St John's College (Hastings) | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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Elijah Niko (born 11 September 1990) is a New Zealand rugby football player who currently plays rugby union for AS Béziers Hérault in the French Rugby Pro D2 competition.
Career
Niko grew up playing rugby league, and in 2007 become the youngest ever player at the age of 15 years to represent the Hawke's Bay Unicorns in the Batercard Cup competition which is rugby leagues ITM cup.[2]
He signed with the New Zealand Warriors in 2008 and played for their under-20s side.[3] He was part of the team that won the 2010 Toyota Cup and ended his under-20s career having scored 21 tries in 36 games.[4]
He joined the Melbourne Storm for the 2011 season also playing for the Easts Tigers club, the feeder club to the Storm where he was named the Queensland Cup winger of the year .[5][6] He later played for the Ellerslie Eagles in the Auckland Rugby League competition.
Niko later switched codes to rugby union and was included in the Australian national 7's squad however he opted out in order to take up a contract in France and signed with Section Paloise in the Top 14. As well as being named in the team of the year he was the top try scorer for 2 consecutive years with the club totaling 25 tries. He was loaned to SC Albi midway through the 2015/2016 season in the Rugby Pro D2 competition.[7][8]
He later signed a three-year contract with AS Béziers Hérault.
Personal
Niko has one young child.
He is the cousin of current players Alex Tulou, Taleta Tupuola and Albert Anae.
He is of Samoan descent.
References
- ↑ "Elijah Niko | Rugby Union | Players and Officials | ESPN Scrum". En.espn.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
- ↑ Niko eager to make NRL clubs pay attention Hawke's Bay Today, 15 September 2007
- ↑ "RUGBY LEAGUE - One Niko to play in Warriors squad". 6 February 2009 – via New Zealand Herald.
- ↑ "NRL: Warriors unchanged for final". The New Zealand Herald. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ↑ "Storm announce new signings". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
- ↑ "Home | Live Scores & Latest News". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
- ↑ "Pau's New Zealand winger Elijah Niko runs with the ball during the..." Gettyimages.com. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
- ↑ "Google Translate". Translate.google.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-06-29.