Misi Taulapapa

Misi Taulapapa (born 25 January 1982) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays for Newcastle Thunder in the Betfred League 1.

Misi Taulapapa
Personal information
Full nameMisi Taulapapa
Born (1982-01-25) 25 January 1982
Auckland, New Zealand
Height177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight85 kg (13 st 5 lb)
Playing information
PositionFullback, Wing, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006 New Zealand Warriors 5 0 0 0 0
2007–09 Cronulla Sharks 33 7 0 0 28
2010–15 Sheffield Eagles 168 70 0 0 280
2016–18 Featherstone Rovers 66 26 0 0 104
2019 Newcastle Thunder 24 14 0 0 56
Total 296 117 0 0 468
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008 Samoa 2 2 0 0 8
As of 14 June 2019
Source: [1][2]

He has previously played professionally in Australia and England. Taulapapa's position of choice is on the wing.

Early years

Taulapapa was born Auckland, New Zealand.

He originally played rugby union for the Waitemata Football club, in the Auckland Rugby Union competition. He played with Waitemata when they won the Gallagher Shield in 2003. Taulapapa also represented the Kelston Boys High School's First XV in both regional and national tournaments.

Playing career

Taulapapa switched to rugby league in 2004. Taulapapa was selected to play in the Bartercard Cup competition for the Marist Richmond Brothers from where he was picked up by the New Zealand Warriors.[3]

Taulapapa played in six matches for the New Zealand Warriors in 2006 before he was released mid-season for turning up to a training session intoxicated.[4][5]

After being released by the Warriors halfway through the 2006 season he moved to Queensland to finish the season at the Central Comets.[6]

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Taulapapa signed with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2007. Here he played as a solid winger and was a fringe NRL player. Taulapapa made 19 appearances for the club in 2008 as Cronulla finished 3rd on the table.

Taulapapa playing for Samoa in 2008

Taulapapa scored a hat-trick in the 2008 qualifying finals game against the Canberra Raiders. 2 weeks later, Taulapapa played on the wing for Cronulla in their 28-0 preliminary final defeat by Melbourne.[7]

Move to England

Taulapapa originally signed with the Gateshead Thunder for the 2010 season.[8] However the club had financial difficulties which voided Taulapapa's contract. He eventually signed with the Sheffield Eagles.[9] After starting on the wing, he moved to full back after a long term injury ruled out the player in that position. He also took on the captaincy and by the end of the season was one of the stand out players for the Eagles, scoring a hat trick in a victory over Leigh Centurions.[10] two weeks later, against the same opponents in the play-offs, he suffered a broken leg that ruled him out for the remainder of the 2010 season.[11]

Later years

In August 2011 Taulapapa signed to Super League club Hull Kingston Rovers. However, after his signature had been announced, Hull KR appointed a new manager - Craig Sandercock - who subsequently decided that Taulapapa did not fit into his plans for the 2012 season. Taulapapa was released from his contract with Hull KR, without having played a single game, and re-signed for Sheffield, and later signed for Featherstone Rovers (captain) (Heritage № 1040). He would move to play for Newcastle Thunder for the 2019 season.

Representative career

Taulapapa was a part of the Samoa squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[12][13]

In 2009 he was named as part of the Samoa squad for the Pacific Cup.[14]

References
  1. "Misi Taulapapa Player Stats".
  2. Misi Taulapapa at the Rugby League Project
  3. Jessup, Peter (29 June 2004). "Rugby League: Aucklanders must back up after NSW Country clash". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  4. "Five Warriors off-field indiscretions".
  5. "NZ Warriors sack young winger Taulapapa - Breaking News - Sport - Breaking News".
  6. "League: Sacked Warrior running out of chances". 10 June 2006 – via New Zealand Herald.
  7. "A history of heartbreak: Cronulla Sharks' tale of woe in NRL finals". www.smh.com.au.
  8. Archived 15 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Samoan star joins Eagles". thestar.co.uk.
  10. "Championship round-up - week 22". BBC News. 19 August 2010.
  11. "Championship play-offs round-up". BBC News. 5 September 2010.
  12. "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  13. "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  14. Poching names strong Samoan squad Archived 10 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine therhinos.co.uk, 6 October 2009
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