Andrew Makalio (born 22 January 1992) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who currently plays as a hooker for in the

Bunnings NPC Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, Wester ...

and the in the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition.

Early career

Originally from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, Makalio started playing rugby at the age of 15 while attending

Onehunga High School Onehunga High School is a state co-educational secondary school in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga, New Zealand. The school incorporates a business school, founded by Just Water International's creator Tony Falkenstein, which is sponsored by bre ...

. He made his way through the Auckland club rugby scene and was named man of the match as his side, Grammar TEC lifted the

Gallaher Shield The Gallaher Shield is awarded to the winner of the Auckland Rugby Football Union senior premier competition, and was first awarded in 1922. The shield is named in honour of Dave Gallaher, an early stalwart of Ponsonby, Auckland and New Zealand ...

in 2015. Unable to crack the

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

team, he headed south to play for

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

based side Harlequins in 2016.

Senior career

Makalio's move south proved to be a fruitful one as after just one season in Marlborough club rugby, he was chosen to replace the departing

Quentin MacDonald Quentin Joseph Reuben William Jordan MacDonald (born 25 September 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays for in the Bunnings NPC. His position is hooker. He has previously played Super Rugby for the , and the . Early ...

in the Tasman Mako squad for the

2016 Mitre 10 Cup The 2016 Mitre 10 Cup season was the eleventh season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 18, when North Harbour hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the ...

. He instantly established himself as the first choice in the number 2 jersey, making 11 appearances, 10 of them from the start and scoring 2 tries as the Mako finished as Premiership runners up in 2016. He was part of the Tasman team that won the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

for the first time. Makalio was selected in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

squad for the

North vs South rugby union match The North vs South match, sometimes known as the Interisland match was a longstanding rugby union fixture in New Zealand between the North Island and South Island teams. The first match was played on 30 June 1897 at Wellington's Athletic Park, a ...

in 2020 but did not play. In Round 9 of the

2020 Mitre 10 Cup The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fifteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour hosted Canterbury. It involved the top ...

Makalio played his 50th game for the Mako against . The Mako went on to win their second premiership title in a row. Makalio played only 6 games for Tasman during the

2021 Bunnings NPC The 2021 Bunnings NPC season was the sixteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 6, when Manawatu hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top f ...

due to injury as the Mako made the final before losing 23–20 to .

Super Rugby

After just one full season and 11 appearances at provincial level, Makalio was handed a

contract by the ahead of the

2017 Super Rugby season The 2017 Super Rugby season was the 22nd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the second season featuring an expand ...

. The side went on to win the title and then backed it up in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and

making it 3 in row. The team also won the

Super Rugby Aotearoa Super Rugby Aotearoa currently named the Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship purposes is a professional men's rugby union national club competition in New Zealand. Originally created to supplement the 2020 Super Rugby season, which was sus ...

competition in 2020. Makalio was ruled out of the

2021 Super Rugby season The 2021 Super Rugby season was the 26th season of Super Rugby, an annual men's international rugby union tournament organised by SANZAAR, involving teams from Australia and New Zealand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was wholly reg ...

with a neck injury suffered late in the

playing for . The went on to make it number 5 in a row with a 24-13 win against the in the final. Makalio moved south to the for the

2022 Super Rugby Pacific season The 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Pacific in Australia and DHL Super Rugby Pacific in New Zealand) is the 27th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams fr ...

to replace

Ash Dixon Ash Dixon (born 1 September 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a hooker for Green Rockets Tokatsu in the Japan Rugby League One. He formerly played for the in Super Rugby and for in New Zealand's domestic Natio ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Makalio, Andrew 1992 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union hookers Tasman rugby union players Rugby union players from Auckland People educated at Onehunga High School Crusaders (rugby union) players Barbarian F.C. players Highlanders (rugby union) players