Zeb Taia

Zeb Taia
Personal information
Full name John Zebelon Taia
Born (1984-10-11) 11 October 1984
Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 104 kg (16 st 5 lb)[1]
Playing information
Position Second-row, Lock, Prop, Centre

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–07 Parramatta Eels 6 2 0 0 8
2007–12 Newcastle Knights 101 12 0 0 48
2013–15 Catalans Dragons 77 36 0 0 144
2016–17 Gold Coast Titans 24 5 0 0 20
2017– St Helens 61 14 0 0 56
Total 269 69 0 0 276
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
2012–13 Cook Islands 4 0 0 0 0
2013 Exiles 1 0 0 0 0
As of 6 October 2018
Source: [2][3]

Zeb Taia (born 11 October 1984) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays for the St Helens in the Super League. He primarily plays as a second-row and lock forward, but can also fill in as a prop and centre and previously played for the Parramatta Eels, Newcastle Knights and the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League, and the Catalans Dragons in the Super League.[2]

Background

Taia was born in Auburn, New South Wales, Australia.

Zeb Taia is from the beautiful island of Cook Island, Penryhn.

Playing career

He played his junior football for the Enfield Federals and the St Clair Comets before being signed by the Parramatta Eels. He played for the Eels' Premier League reserve-grade team in 2006.[4] In Round 5 of the 2006 NRL season he made his NRL debut for the Eels against the Penrith Panthers.

In 2007, Taia was granted a release from his Eels contract and moved mid-season to the Newcastle Knights. In 2008, Taia established himself as a permanent first-grader with the Knights.

Taia playing for the Knights in 2009

In the first week of the finals series of 2011, Taia made a comeback from a career threatening neck injury in which he suffered four rounds into the season.

On 16 May 2012, Taia signed a 3-year deal with French Super League club, Catalans Dragons starting in 2013. Taia said about the move, "Whilst my wife and I are looking forward to experiencing life in another country, a beautiful one at that, I am forever indebted to the Knights. Not just for the time I have been here but the support they showed me, particularly last season during a potentially career ending injury."[5]

On 5 August 2015, Taia signed a 2-year contract with the Gold Coast Titans to return to the National Rugby League after three years in France, starting in 2016.[6]

On February 14, 2017, Taia signed for St. Helens in a swap deal taking Joe Greenwood to Gold Coast Titans

Representative career

For the 2010 Anzac Test, Taia was selected to debut for the New Zealand national rugby league team at second-row forward in their loss against Australia.[7]

On 16 October 2010, Taia represented the Cook Islands against a NSW Country representative side.[8] In the match Taia captained the side. He made his official international debut for the Cook Islands in 2012 in a match against Lebanon.

Zeb captained 'the Kukis' in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

Personal life

Taia is of Cook Islands descent as his parents are from the island of Penrhyn (Tongareva).[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Catalans Dragons Equipe Saison 2015". Catalans Dragons site officiel. Catalans Dragons S.A.S.P. 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. ↑ Love Rugby League
  4. ↑ Archived 18 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Archived 7 September 2012 at Archive.is
  6. ↑ Titans.com.au (2015-08-05). "Taylor and Taia to join Titans | NRL". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  7. ↑ "Zeb Taia chases black jumper after sidestepping Blues". Newcastle Herald. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ Alderson, Andrew (15 August 2010). "League: Watch out for Taia if Kiwi coach calls". The New Zealand Herald.
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