Tevita Pangai Junior

Tevita Pangai Junior
Pangai Junior playing for the Mounties in 2014.
Personal information
Born (1996-02-04) 4 February 1996
Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia
Height 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 113 kg (17 st 11 lb)
Playing information
Position Prop, Lock, Second-row

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– Brisbane Broncos 53 7 0 0 28
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2017 Tonga 3 1 0 0 4
As of 4 March 2018
Source: [1]

Tevita Pangai Junior (born 4 February 1996) is a Tongan international rugby league footballer who plays for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League. He plays as a prop, lock and second-row forward.

Background

Born in Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia, Pangai Junior is of Tongan descent.[2] He moved to Newcastle, New South Wales at a young age and played his junior rugby league for the South Newcastle Lions in the Newcastle Rugby League, before being signed by the Newcastle Knights.

Pangai Junior is the younger brother of former North Queensland Cowboys player Mosese Pangai.[3]

Playing career

Early career

After playing in the lower grades at the Knights, Pangai Junior joined the Canberra Raiders in 2013 and played for their NYC team from 2013 to 2015.[4] On 7 November 2013, he re-signed with the Raiders on a 3-year contract.[5] On 18 October 2014, he played for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis, playing at second-row in the Kangaroos' 14-15 loss at Mt Smart Stadium.[6][7][8] He was again selected for the Junior Kangaroos in May 2015, playing off the interchange bench in the Kangaroos' 22-20 win at Robina Stadium.[9][10] On 12 September 2015, he was named in Tonga's 58-man train-on squad for the World Cup qualifier against the Cook Islands.[2] Two days later, he was named at second-row in the 2015 NYC Team of the Year.[11]

2016

In January, Pangai Junior signed a 2-year contract with the Brisbane Broncos starting in 2017, however, in February, he was granted a release from the final year of his Raiders contract to join the Broncos effective immediately on a revised contract for just the 2016 season.[12] On 7 May, he played for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis for a third year in a row, starting at prop and captaining the side in the Kangaroos' 34-20 win at Parramatta Stadium.[13][14]

In round 12 of the 2016 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Broncos against the Wests Tigers, playing off the interchange bench in the Broncos' 18-19 loss at Suncorp Stadium.[15][16][17] In his next match in Round 13 against the New Zealand Warriors, he scored his first NRL career try in the Broncos' 18-36 loss at Mt Smart Stadium.[18] He finished his debut year in the NRL having played in 14 matches and scoring 2 tries for the Broncos in the 2016 season.[19] On 22 September, he re-signed with the Broncos on a 2-year contract until the end of 2018.[20]

2017

After the Broncos local derby clash against the Gold Coast Titans in Round 7 as they were lucky to escape with a 24-22 win at Suncorp Stadium, Pangai Junior suffered a finger injury during the match and was sidelined for a number of weeks.[21] Pangai Junior would return from injury in Round 13 against the Sydney Roosters in the 18-16 loss at Sydney Football Stadium.[22] Pangai Junior finished the 2017 NRL season with him playing in 18 matches for the Broncos. On 5 October 2017, Pangai Junior was selected in the 24-man squad for Tonga for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.[23] On 11 November 2017, Pangai Junior made his international debut for Tonga against New Zealand, coming off the interchange bench in the inspirational 28-22 shock win at Waikato Stadium.[24][25] Pangai Junior would play in the next match for Tonga against Lebanon in their 24-22 win at AMI Stadium in Christchurch.[26] In Tonga’s Semi Final match against England, Pangai Junior scored his first international try, the start of an unlikely Tonga comeback from 20-0 down with 9 minutes to fulltime.[27] As Tonga would dare to dream and score another two more 2 tries to make the score 20-18 with 2 minutes to fulltime, England winger Jermaine McGillvary lost the ball in his own half of the field, Tonga had one more final chance to pinch a stunning victory but unfortunately would end up in tears after Andrew Fifita would go over the tryline on the fulltime siren but the try wasn’t checked by the video referee when the ball was raked out of his hand by England second-rower Elliot Whitehead but was seen by referee Matt Cecchin as a knock on, the match ending in a thrilling fashion 20-18 at Mt Smart Stadium.[28] Pangai Junior finished the exciting tournament with him playing in 3 matches and scoring 1 try.

2018

After showing a good performance in Round 1 against the St George Illawarra Dragons as the Broncos lost 34-12 at Jubilee Stadium.[29] In Round 2 in the Queensland derby match against the North Queensland Cowboys, Pangai Junior had a monster performance, scoring a try out of sheer strength, nearly scoring a second identical try but was disallowed and making a very crucial try saving tackle on Cowboys forward Scott Bolton as he ran to score under the posts from a inside ball from Johnathan Thurston but was slammed into the goalpost by him in the 78th minute and the Broncos came on top as 24-20 winners at Suncorp Stadium.[30] As Pangai Junior was show himself as the standout forward for the Broncos, he was under consideration for the New South Wales State of Origin squad, but he opted to stay loyal to Tonga to represent his family but later didn’t take part in the Pacific international against Samoa due to injury.[31][32] After missing a couple of matches due to injury in Round 19 against the Penrith Panthers, Pangai Junior had a sensational first half, scoring 2 tries as the Broncos went on to win convincingly 50-18 at Suncorp Stadium.[33]

References

  1. ↑ "Tevita Pangai Jr - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 1996-02-04. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  2. 1 2 "Tonga name 58-man squad for Cook Islands qualifier". The Roar. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
  3. ↑ Jon Tuxworth (2014-10-11). "Canberra Raiders rookie Tevita Pangai learns from brothers' mistakes". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
  4. ↑ "P". Nyc Database. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  5. ↑ Raiders.com.au (2013-11-07). "Pangai brothers united at the Raiders". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  6. ↑ "Junior Kangaroos side to face NZ". NRL.com. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  7. ↑ "Junior Kangaroos side to face NZ". 10 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  8. ↑ https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/watch-as-tempers-flare-between-the-junior-kangaroos-and-junior-kiwis-during-a-fiery-haka/news-story/6ddd246f98161a6206d9f415b8a0992c
  9. ↑ "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  10. ↑ "Junior Roos hold on in thriller". 2 May 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "2015 Holden Cup Team of the Year". NRL.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  12. ↑ Jon Tuxworth (2016-02-28). "Tevita Pangai thankful Canberra Raiders have found replacement in Joe Tapine". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  13. ↑ "Updated: Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Junior Kangaroos too good for NZ". 7 May 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  15. ↑ "Updated team lists: Broncos v Wests Tigers". NRL.com. 2016-02-28. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  16. ↑ NRL. "Su'A Start Sets New Mark". Broncos. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  17. ↑ "Bennett backs inexperienced Broncos". 27 May 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  18. ↑ https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-2016-new-zealand-warriors-rise-again-to-thump-lethargic-brisbane-broncos/news-story/77c4e576bc02c195a881635c227c0101
  19. ↑ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  20. ↑ Broncos.com.au (2016-09-01). "Trio commit to Broncos". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  21. ↑ Clark, Laine (18 April 2017). "Tevita Pangai Jnr ruled out for 12 weeks". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  22. ↑ "Roosters defeat Broncos 18-16: Five things we learned". www.couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  23. ↑ "Fifita, Taumalolo in Tonga World Cup squad". 4 October 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  24. ↑ "Tonga name side to take on New Zealand in Rugby League World Cup clash in Hamilton". 7 November 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  25. ↑ "Bad blood boils over in war cry". Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  26. ↑ https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/tonga-move-on-to-world-cup-semifinals-after-thrilling-2422-win-over-gallant-lebanon/news-story/c8d785b865c17f8913f0e45e485ec3a3
  27. ↑ "England holds out Tonga 20-18 to reach world Cup final". www.theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  28. ↑ "Tonga v England, Andrew Fifita referee call: Matt Cecchin accused of racism - Fox Sports". www.foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  29. ↑ "St George Illawarra Dragons too good for Brisbane Broncos". 8 March 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  30. ↑ "Brisbane Broncos score shock win over North Queensland Cowboys". 16 March 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  31. ↑ "No regrets for Tonga star Pangai despite NSW revival". 14 June 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  32. ↑ https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/all-the-teams-for-the-rugby-leagues-2018-representative-weekend/news-story/4831c22969d50ecbd241969fe06cd8b6
  33. ↑ "Tevita Pangai jnr and Brisbane Broncos outgun Penrith Panthers". 20 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
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