David Bhana (born 13 January 1993) is a New Zealand professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer. He plays at . He previously played for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Background

Born in

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 ...

, New Zealand, Bhana is of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent and played his junior rugby league for the

Northcote Tigers The Northcote Tigers are a rugby league club based in Northcote, Auckland, Northcote, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1910 as the Northcote Warriors though they became known as the Northcote Ramblers shortly afterwards.John Haynes ''From A ...

, before being signed by the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

. He attended

Birkenhead College Birkdale is a suburb of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area located in New Zealand. It comprises statistical area units such as 'Birkdale North' and 'Birkdale South'. The suburb is located in the North Shore, and is under the governance ...

between 2006 and 2010, where he was the Head Boy and continued to play club rugby league, while playing 1st XV for the school. Along with 1st XV, he also represented the school in 1st XI cricket. He then went on to study at the University of Auckland where he was a member of the University of Auckland Māori association, Ngā Tauira Māori. He went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Environmental Science and Geography. Bhana's family has a long history in the game, with his grandfather, father and his three brothers having played rugby league.

Playing career

Early career

From 2012 to 2013, Bhana played for the New Zealand Warriors'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team. On 13 October 2012, he played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

against the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

. In 2013, he captained the side, including in the 30-42 2013 NYC Grand Final loss to the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

. On 27 August 2013, he was named on the

interchange bench Interchange (or, colloquially, the bench or interchange bench) is a team position in Australian rules football, consisting of players who are part of the selected team but are not currently on the field of play. Interchange numbers AFL As of t ...

in the 2013 NYC Team of the Year. On 13 October 2013, he captained the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos, in which the Kiwis went down 26–38. In 2014, he graduated on to the Warriors'

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

team. On 3 November 2015, he signed a two-year contract with the

starting in 2016.

2016

In round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, Bhana made his

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

debut for Newcastle against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

. He was named in the New Zealand Māori squad for a match against the New Zealand Residents on 15 October 2016.

2017

In April, Bhana suffered a severe knee injury while playing for the Novocastrians

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team. The injury required multiple surgeries including an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

reconstruction, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. The injury prevented him from playing another game for the Novocastrians as he was not offered a new contract beyond 2017.

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profile
1993 births Living people New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Indian descent New Zealand people of Scottish descent Newcastle Knights players Junior Kiwis players Northcote Tigers players Auckland rugby league team players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auckland {{NewZealand-rugbyleague-bio-stub