Taane Milne

Taane Milne
Personal information
Born (1995-05-19) 19 May 1995
Auckland, New Zealand
Height 182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 99 kg (15 st 8 lb)
Playing information
Position Centre

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–17 St. George Illawarra 18 1 0 0 4
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2017 Fiji 6 4 8 0 32
As of 29 April 2018
Source: [1][2]

Taane Milne (born 19 May 1995) is a Fijian international rugby league footballer who plays for the Mount Pritchard Mounties in the Intrust Super Premiership. He plays at centre. He previously played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers.

Background

Milne was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He is of Māori[3] and Fijian[4] descent. He moved to Australia at a young age. He played his junior rugby league for the Clovelly Crocodiles and spent some time in rugby union[5] whilst attending Randwick Boys High School and Newington College (2011–2013), where he played junior representative grades for Randwick as well as NSW & Australian Schoolboys teams alongside future Parramatta Eels backrower Tepai Moeroa.[6][7] He was then signed by the Sydney Roosters.

Playing career

Early career

From 2013 to 2015, Milne played for the Sydney Roosters' NYC team.[8] On 18 October 2014, he played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos.[9] He was again selected for the Junior Kiwis on 2 May 2015.[10] Milne was released by the Roosters with "A questionable work ethic, including being late for training and poor training performance, coupled with some minor off-field dramas," said to be contributing factors.[11]

On 27 October 2015, he signed a 2-year contract with the St. George Illawarra Dragons starting in 2016.[12]

2016

In round 8, Milne made his NRL debut for the Dragons against the Sydney Roosters.[13][14] After further games in reserve grade, he returned to centre in first grade for 6 games at the end of season. Teammate Benji Marshall said he, "has one of the best in and always and flick passes I've seen at training. He is a very talented kid."[11]

He was named in the New Zealand Māori squad for a match against the New Zealand Residents on 15 October 2016.[15]

2017

Milne played in 11 games in 2017, almost entirely from the bench. He scored his first try in round 11 against the Warriors, his sole match starting at centre for the season, and his only try for the year. On 6 May, Milne made his international debut for Fiji against Tonga in the 2017 Pacific Cup.[16] Milne said, "I received a call from Mick Potter to play for Fiji against Samoa last year but I couldn't due to personal reasons, I was disappointed. But I had let him know that I was keen to play for Fiji this year. This has been an emotional moment for me. One of the best things being in camp is the devotion time and learning some Fijian songs. This has been one of the best camps I have ever been in."[17]

In June, Milne signed a 2-year contract with the Wests Tigers starting in 2018.[18]

Selected for Fiji in the World Cup at the end of the season, Milne score 2 tries and 2 goals in the opening match against the USA.[19] In his next game, he scored 2 tries and kicked 3 goals against Wales.

2018

Milne was sacked by the Wests Tigers on 6/4/18 after failing a 2nd drugs test. He joined the Mount Pritchard Mounties for the remainder of the 2018 season.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Taane Milne - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  2. ↑ "Taane Milne Player Stats". Loverugbyleague.com. 2015-07-17. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
  3. ↑ "CHANGES FOR QLD TOUR: There have been... - NZ Maori Rugby League". Facebook. 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  4. ↑ NRL Digital Media. "Fiji and Cook Islands squads named". QRL. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  5. ↑ NRL. "Taane Milne". Dragons. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  6. ↑ Georgina Robinson. "ARU moves to halt young guns' slide to rugby league may have come too late". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  7. ↑ NRL. "Generation next: time to get excited". Roosters. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
  8. ↑ "M". Nyc Database. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  9. ↑ "2014 JUNIOR KIWIS TEAM ANNOUNCED". Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  11. 1 2 Michael Carayannis. "Benji Marshall says St George Illawarra Dragons recruit Taane Milne has 'best in and away' he's seen". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "Dragons sign youth". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  13. ↑ "Updated team lists: Dragons v Roosters". NRL.com. 2016-02-28. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  14. ↑ NRL. "Late Mail: Round 8 v Sydney Roosters". Dragons. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  15. ↑ "Auckland Rugby League - Auckland Rugby League".
  16. ↑ "Late Latu try grabs Test win for Tonga - NRL".
  17. ↑ Elenoa Baselala. "Milne's rise". Fiji Times. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017.
  18. ↑ "Wests Tigers sign Taane Milne". Zero Tackle. 2017-02-04. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
  19. ↑ "Bati vs USA". nrl.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017.
  20. ↑ https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/taane-milne-receives-lifeline-after-wests-tigers-sacking-for-second-illicit-drugs-breach/news-story/d020aac99ac31c39188a5a8464e773cd/Milne receives lifeline
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