Tautau Moga

Tautau Moga (born 6 December 1993) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a centre and winger for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.

Tautau "Tee" Moga
Personal information
Full nameTautau Moga
Born (1993-12-06) 6 December 1993
Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
Height194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight109 kg (17 st 2 lb)
Playing information
PositionCentre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2012–13 Sydney Roosters 14 7 0 0 28
2014–16 North Qld Cowboys 18 3 0 0 12
2017 Brisbane Broncos 27 9 0 0 36
2018– Newcastle Knights 10 4 0 0 16
Total 69 23 0 0 92
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 Samoa 3 1 0 0 4
As of 12 April 2020
Source: [1]

He previously played for the Sydney Roosters, North Queensland Cowboys and the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League.

Background

He was born in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.

Moga is of Samoan descent. Growing up in Ipswich, he played his junior rugby league for the Springfield Panthers.[2] He attended St Peter Claver College in Ipswich, where he was the recipient of the 2010 Ronald Holmes memorial trophy as the school's Player of the Year. He represented the Australian Schoolboys in 2010.[3]

Moga joined the Sydney Roosters system at age 14. He took the next step and played for the Roosters SG Ball team before being fast tracked into the Toyota Cup team in 2011. Moga turned heads in the competition, scoring 18 tries in 13 games. In late 2011, he would have become the youngest Roosters debutant in 73 years if not for a new NRL rule barring players under the age of 18 from playing first grade.[4]

Playing career

2012

Moga joined the Roosters first grade squad and started the season playing in the Toyota Cup and for the Newtown Jets in the NSW Cup. He was selected for Queensland in the inaugural State of Origin Under 20's match at centre in the 18-14 loss against New South Wales at Penrith Stadium.[5][6] In Round 10, Moga made his first grade NRL debut for the Roosters against the Warriors on the wing, scoring a try in the Roosters 30-26 loss at Mt Smart Stadium.[7] Moga played in 14 matches and scored 7 tries in his debut year in the NRL.

2013

Moga spent the season on the sidelines after suffering two anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. One of the injuries happened while playing in a comeback match in the NYC.[8]

2014

On 29 June, Moga joined the North Queensland Cowboys mid-season, signing with them until the end of the 2016 season.[9] In Round 17, Moga made his debut for the Cowboys against the St. George Illawarra Dragons at centre in the Cowboys 27-24 loss at Jubilee Oval.[10] In Round 21 against the Gold Coast Titans, Moga scored his first try club for the Cowboys in the 28-8 win at 1300SMILES Stadium.[11] Moga finished his first year with the North Queensland Cowboys in the 2014 NRL season with him playing in 11 matches and scoring 3 tries. On 7 October 2014, Moga was selected for the Samoan 24-man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series.[12] On 23 October 2014, Moga alongside Samoa teammates Reni Maitua and Sauaso Sue were fined $10,000 for their involvement in a brawl in at a nightclub at Fortitude Valley.[13] The trio were dropped for 2 matches but later returned to play against New Zealand, Moga making his Samoan international debut on the wing and scoring a try in Samoa's 14-12 loss at Toll Stadium in Whangarei, New Zealand.[14] Moga played in 2 matches in the tournament.

2015

Moga played for the Cowboys in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[15] On 2 May, he played for Samoa in their Polynesian Cup clash with Pacific rivals Tonga, playing at fullback in Samoa's 18-16 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.[16] During the match, he tore his Anterior cruciate ligament, having to undergo a third knee reconstruction, ruling him out for the rest of the year.[17][18] He finished off the 2015 season early, having played in 6 matches for the Cowboys.[19]

2016

In round 18 of the 2016 season, Moga made his return from injury against the Canberra Raiders.[20] On 24 October, he signed a two-year contract with the Brisbane Broncos starting in 2017.[21]

2017

In July, after playing in 17 matches for the Broncos up to that point, Moga signed a 3-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2018.[22]

2018

In round 1 of the 2018 season, Moga made his debut for the Knights in their 19-18 golden point extra-time win over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.[23] In round 4, he tore his Anterior cruciate ligament while scoring a try in the Knights' 12-30 loss against the St. George Illawarra Dragons, meaning he would miss the rest of the season after facing his fourth knee reconstruction.[24]

Alleged assault

On 11 January 2019, it was revealed that Moga had been charged by police for common assault. The incident took place on Boxing Day 2018 where Moga allegedly slapped a taxi driver twice on the head. According to The Daily Telegraph, Moga and another man allegedly were refused entry into a King Street, Newcastle pub before getting into the taxi.

Moga's club Newcastle released a statement saying "The Newcastle Knights were made aware of an incident involving a player on December 26, 2018, The club alerted the NRL Integrity Unit at an appropriate time and are co-operating with the NSW Police. No further comment will be made".[25]

In April 2019, Moga was fined $60,000, half of which was suspended, by Newcastle.[26]

Statistics

NRL
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2016 season[27]
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2012 Sydney Roosters 1470—028
2014 North Queensland 1130—012
2015 North Queensland 600—00
2016 North Queensland 100—00
2017 Brisbane Broncos 2790—036
Career totals 59 19 0 — 0 76

International
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2014 Samoa 210—04
2015 Samoa 100—00
Career totals 3 1 0 — 0 4

References
  1. "Tautau Moga - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Teen hopes to make Schoolboys trip | Queensland Times". Qt.com.au. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  4. "Tautau Moga Ready to Make Up for Lost Time With Leading Role in Roosters Coach Brian Smith's Plans". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  5. "Toyota U/20's Origin squads named". NRL.com. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  6. "NSW Secure an Impressive Victory Over Queensland in the Toyota Under 20s State of Origin Clash". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20150208185301/http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-league-news/happened-warriors-v-roosters-4884366. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. Adrian Proszenko. "Moga's comeback cruelled by another ACL rupture". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  9. Adrian Proszenko (28 June 2014). "Sydney Roosters centre Tautau Moga transfers to North Queensland Cowboys". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  10. "Dragons Have Beaten the Cowboys 27-24". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  11. "JT guides hard-hitting Cowboys past Titans". NRL.com. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  12. "Toa Samoa name Four Nations squad". NRL.com. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  13. Reporter, Pa (23 October 2014). "Samoa's Reni Maitua, Tautau Moga and Sauaso Sue fined £5,500 after trio was dropped for Four Nations opener". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20141217221308/http://www.skysports.com/rugbyleague/match_report/0,,11070_3730177,00.html. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. "COWBOYS UNVEIL 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. 27 January 2015. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  16. "Sam Kasiano Try Saving Tackle on Jorge Taufua Secures Pacific Test Win for Samoa Against Tonga". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  17. "Cowboys Centre Tautau Moga Suffers Career Threatening Third ACL Tear". Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  18. "Moga out for the season". NRL.com. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  19. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  20. "Updated team lists: Raiders v Cowboys". NRL.com. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  21. "Tautau Moga signs with Broncos". Zero Tackle. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  22. "Newcastle sign Tautau Moga". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  23. "Late mail: Knights v Manly". 9 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  24. "Late mail: Dragons v Knights". 1 April 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  25. "Knights centre Tautau Moga charged with common assault". www.foxsports.com.au.
  26. "Knights fine Moga for taxi driver assault". SBS News. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  27. "Tautau Moga - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
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