Sam Tagataese

Sam Tagataese
Personal information
Full name Samuel Tagataese
Born (1986-12-08) 8 December 1986
Wellington, New Zealand
Height 193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 110 kg (17 st 5 lb)
Playing information
Position Prop, Second-row

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–08 Melbourne Storm 18 2 0 0 8
2009–11 Gold Coast Titans 33 4 0 0 16
2011–17 Cronulla Sharks 117 9 0 0 36
2018– Brisbane Broncos 4 0 0 0 0
Total 172 15 0 0 60
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–17 Samoa 5 0 0 0 0
As of 4 March 2018
Source: [1]

Sam Tagataese pronounced (/teɪɡətiːzi/) (born 8 December 1986) is a Samoan international rugby league footballer who plays for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. Tagataese was part of the Cronulla team that won their maiden premiership title in the 2016 season.

His name is not pronounced as above. It is pronounced Tung-ah-tah-ess-eh.

Background

He was born in Wellington, New Zealand.

Tagataese attended St. Bernard's College, Lower Hutt, playing first fifteen Rugby, and received Sportsman of the year in 2003.

Playing career

He left Wellington to play with Melbourne Storm feeder Brisbane Norths, where he was selected for the Queensland under 19's and Junior Kiwis squad in 2004.

Tagataese made his first Grade NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm on Saturday, 7 April 2007, against the Newcastle Knights At Energy Australia Stadium.

On 11 June 2011, Tagataese announced he was leaving the Gold Coast Titans immediately to join the Cronulla Sharks on a three-year contract.[2]

In 2016, Tagataese was part of the Cronulla side which won their first ever premiership defeating Melbourne in the grand final 14-12.[3]

On 13 December 2017, Brisbane Broncos announced they had signed Tagataese on a one year deal [4]

Representative career

Tagataese is of Samoan heritage,[5] and was named in the Samoa training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[6]

In 2009 he was named as part of the Samoan side for the Pacific Cup.[7]

In 2013, Sam made his international début, he played for Samoa in the Pacific Rugby League International against fierce pacific rivals Tonga.

In May 2014, Sam played for Samoa in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International. Tagataese made headlines in the match after being sent off for a head-butt on Fijian player Kane Evans.

On 8 September 2014, Tagataese was selected for the Samoa Four Nations train-on squad.[8] On 7 October 2014, Tagataese was selected in the Samoa national rugby league team final 24 man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series.[9][10]

On 7 May 2016, Tagataese traveled down from Hull to Sydney to captain Samoa in the 2016 Polynesian Cup against Tonga, playing off the interchange bench in the 18-6 win at Parramatta Stadium.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Sam Tagataese - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 1986-12-08. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  2. ↑ "Big hitting Gold Coast forward Sam Tagataese granted early release to join Cronulla Sharks". Fox Sports. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  3. ↑ https://www.nrl.com/news/2016/10/02/2016-grand-final-sharks-player-ratings/
  4. ↑ "Big Sam Joins The Broncos". broncos.com.au. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  5. ↑ Donaghy, Dave (2007-03-15). "Islander blood runs deep". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  6. ↑ "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  7. ↑ Poching names strong Samoan squad therhinos.co.uk, 6 October 2009
  8. ↑ "Samoa train on squad announced". Zero Tackle. 2014-09-08. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  9. ↑ "Toa Samoa name Four Nations squad". NRL.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  10. ↑ "Toa Samoa name Four Nations squad". Zero Tackle. 7 October 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Samoa holds on in pulsating Pacific Test". nrl.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
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