Mikaele Ravalawa
Mikaele Ravalawa is a Fijian rugby footballer who plays as a centre or winger for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Fiji at international level.
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 9 November 1997 Galoa Island, Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 93 kg (14 st 9 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing, Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 20 August 2019 Source: [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
Ravalawa was born in Galoa Island, Fiji.
Playing career
From Galoa Island, Ravalawa originally played rugby union and captained the Fijian Under-18's rugby sevens team.
He then joined Burnside High School on a scholarship as part of their international rugby programme. He played for the schools first XV and the Crusaders' Under-18 team.[2]
He then switched to rugby league after being spotted by Peter Mulholland, joining the Canberra Raiders in 2017 and played for their Holden Cup (Under-20s) team. That season, Ravalawa scored 12 tries in 22 games and won Canberra's under 20s player of the year award.[3]
He was named in the Fiji squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.[4][5]
Ravalawa made 19 appearances for St George Illawarra in the 2019 NRL season and finished as the club's top try scorer as they endured one of their worst ever seasons finishing 15th on the table.[6]
In 2020, Ravalawa was awarded a penalty try in the Dragons' first match of the season against the Wests Tigers. In that match, he injured his thigh, meaning he couldn't finish the match and play the next week.[7]
References
- "Mikaele Ravalawa - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
- Egan, Brendon (19 July 2016). "Burnside High duo impressing for plucky overachievers". Stuff. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- Helmers, Caden (9 October 2017). "Mikaele Ravalawa chasing a dream with nothing more than a backpack". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- Baleilevuka, Rusiate (9 October 2017). "Ravalawa still in shock after being named in Fiji Bati squad for RLWC". Fijivillage. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- Helmers, Caden (7 October 2017). "Canberra Raiders young gun Mikaele Ravalawa named in Fiji's World Cup squad". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- Chisholm, Ed (2 September 2019). "Paul McGregor facing the axe as St. George Illawarra Dragons coach following horror season". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019.
- Walter, Brad (15 March 2020). "Benji brilliant as Tigers down dropsy Dragons". National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.