Jordan Rapana (born 15 August 1989) is a 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 who plays as a er for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

in the

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 ...

. He has played for the New Zealand Māori,

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 ...

and the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

at international level. He previously played for 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 ...

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 ...

club and the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

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 ...

team.

Background

Rapana was born in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, and is of

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 ...

, Cook Island and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. From the

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its ''rohe'' (tribal area) extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston N ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

(Māori tribe), he moved to the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

as a 10-year-old. He played his junior football for the

Tugun Seahawks The Tugun Seahawks are a rugby league club based in the Gold Coast suburb of Tugun. Their home ground (Betty Diamond Complex) is adjacent to Gold Coast Airport and their colours are Blue & White. The Seahawks' first season in the Gold Coast R ...

and attended

Palm Beach Currumbin High School Palm Beach Currumbin State High School (PBC High School or PBC) is an independent co-educational public school (government funded), in the Gold Coast suburb of Currumbin, Queensland, Australia. PBC is Queensland's southernmost coastal High sch ...

before being signed by the

Playing career

2008

In 2008, Rapana played for the

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. In Round 18 of the

2008 NRL season The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, National Rugby League teams, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstr ...

, he made his

debut for the

against the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

. At the end of 2008, 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 2008 NYC Team of the Year. Jordon Rapana 2008

He also played for the

New Zealand Māori rugby league team New Zealand Māori rugby league team is a rugby league representative side made up of New Zealand Māori players. The side represents the New Zealand Māori Rugby league. Like its union counterpart, the rugby league team previously competed in ...

2009

In 2009, Rapana left the NRL to serve a two-year

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

mission in England and Wales. During his time in England he played for Supermarine RFC.

2011

In June, Rapana signed a contract with

team,

, starting in 2012. For the 2012 season, he played for the Palmyra Rugby Union Club.

2013

In 2013, Rapana moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

to play for the

Queanbeyan Blues Queanbeyan Blues United Rugby League Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Queanbeyan, New South Wales formed in the late 1920s. They conduct teams for both junior and senior teams. Notable Juniors * Johnny Hawke (1949-52 S ...

in the TTM Canberra Raiders Cup and also to train with the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

in the hope of gaining a contract. On 24 June, he signed a two-year contract with the

effective immediately. At the end of 2013, he played for the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

in the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

2014

On 7 August, Rapana re-signed with the

on a one-year contract. In Round 22 of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...

, he made his debut for the Canberra club against the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

, his first NRL game since 2008.

2015

On 8 May, Rapana re-signed with the

on a two-year contract. On 17 October, he played for the Cook Islands in their Asia-Pacific Qualifier match against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

for the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

2016

In Round 8 against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

, Rapana scored four tries in Canberra's 60–6 win at

. He finished the 2016 season with 23 tries, equal most with Suliasi Vunivalu, and breaking the Canberra club record During the season, Rapana and his centre partner Joseph Leilua became one of the most destructive duos of the year, scoring some fantastic tries and their strong friendship outside the footy field labelling them as "Leipana". Rapana finished the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

as the season's equal top try-scorer with

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

rookie Suliasi Vunivalu with 23 tries in 26 matches. Rapana broke Canberra's club record for the most tries in a season. On 4 October 2016, he was rewarded for his big year with Canberra by being selected in the

New Zealand Kiwis The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori language, Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the ...

24-man squad for the 2016 Four Nations. On 15 October 2016, he made his international debut for the Kiwis against

, playing on the wing in the 26–6 loss at

Perth Oval Perth Oval, currently branded HBF Park (under a sponsorship agreement with HBF Health Fund) and called Perth Rectangular Stadium for international football matches, is a sports stadium in Perth, the capital of the Australian state of Western A ...

. In his next match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Rapana scored two tries in the 17–16 win at

Kirklees Stadium Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of football club Huddersfield Town and rugby league si ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

Rapana played in four matches and scored three tries in the tournament including playing in the Kiwis 2016 Four Nations final match against Australia, playing on the wing in the 34–8 loss at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

. Rapana was named the Kiwis rookie of the year by the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

2017

After Canberra's season opening Round 1 match against the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

, Rapana received a warning from the NRL after he put up both of his middle fingers, gesturing at the officials after teammate

Elliot Whitehead Elliott Whitehead (born 4 September 1989) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a forward for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL, and England and Great Britain at international level. He previously played for the Bradf ...

was denied a try in Golden Point Extra Time; the Raiders lost 20-16 shortly afterwards at

1300SMILES Stadium The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as 1300SMILES Stadium through Naming rights, sponsorship, is a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It has been a predominantly rugby league ground as the home ground o ...

. On 10 March 2019, Rapana signed a two-year extension with Canberra, keeping him in the nation's capital until 2019. In Round 8 against the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

, Rapana scored one of the season's best tries by leaping high and somehow getting a hand to a

Blake Austin Blake Austin (born 1 February 1991) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Leeds Rhinos in the Betfred Super League. Austin previously played for the Warrington Wolves ( Heritage № 1147), Canberra Raiders, Penrit ...

grubber that looked destined to go too deep in the corner during Canberra's 20-18 golden point extra time loss at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports v ...

. On 5 May 2017, Rapana played for New Zealand in the 2017 ANZAC Test against Australia, playing on the wing in the 30–12 loss at

. Rapana finished the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

as the club's highest try-scorer with 21 tries in 23 matches. On 5 October 2017, Rapana was named in the New Zealand Kiwis 24-man squad for the

. Rapana played in 3 matches and scored 2 tries in the Kiwis shock disappointing campaign.

2018

Rapana finished the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

by playing in 21 matches and scoring 10 tries for the Raiders. On 1 October 2018, he was selected in the Kiwis' 23-man squad for their tour of

and the test match against Australia. In the second match in the

Baskerville Shield The Baskerville Shield is a trophy awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between England and New Zealand. It named in honour of Albert Henry Baskerville, who organised the first ever tour by New Zealand of Great Britain in 1907. Th ...

against England, Rapana suffered a dislocated shoulder during the Kiwis 20–14 loss at

. The injury was expected to sideline him for at least six months. The Raiders sought a salary cap exemption of up to $350,000, possible where a player suffers a long-term injury while on rep duty.

2019

Rapana made a shocking return for Canberra two months earlier than expected, slotting back into his wing spot in Round 2 against the

in the 22–10 loss at

. In Round 4 against the

, he played his 100th NRL career match and scored two tries in the 30–12 win at

. Rapana made 21 appearances for Canberra as the club reached their first grand final in 25 years, playing on the wing as Canberra were defeated 14-8 by the

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

. In October 2019, Rapana announced that he had signed a one-year deal to join Japanese

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 ...

team the

Panasonic Wild Knights Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the l ...

. On 30 October, the

announced that Rapana would not be allowed to return to Canberra during the 2020 season. However, that decision was overturned when he returned to the Raiders in May 2020 following the suspension of the Japanese rugby season due to COVID-19.

2020

Rapana played 19 games for Canberra in the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

and scored only two tries. He played in all three of Canberra's finals matches including the preliminary final loss to Melbourne.

2021

In round 1 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, he scored two tries in a 30-12 victory over Wests Tigers. In round 7, he scored two tries in a 26-24 loss against

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

. In round 8 against South Sydney, he scored two tries and kicked two goals in a 34-20 loss at

GIO Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports ven ...

. Rapana played 22 games for Canberra in the

and scored 12 tries in total. Canberra would finish the season in 10th place and missed out on the finals. On 27 September, Rapana was arrested by Queensland Police after failing a roadside breath test recording an blood alcohol limit of 0.098. On 25 October, Rapana was handed a $500 fine and suspended from driving for three months at Maroochydore Magistrates Court.

2022

In round 18 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

, Rapana was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous high tackle during Canberra's 20-16 upset victory over

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Rapana played a total of 21 games for Canberra in 2022 as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Rapana played in both finals matches as Canberra were eliminated in the second week by

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

. In October Rapana was named in the New Zealand squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

2023

In round 1 of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...

, Rapana was placed on report for a shoulder charge on North Queensland's Scott Drinkwater. Rapana was later suspended for three games over the incident. In round 6, Rapana scored two tries for Canberra in an upset 20-14 victory over Brisbane. In the second half of the match, Rapana was taken from the field after his head collided with

Martin Taupau Martin Taupau (born 3 February 1990) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Brisbane Broncos as and and has played for both Samoa and New Zealand at international level. He previously played for the Manly Warringah Sea ...

's knee which caused Rapana to bleed heavily. In round 10, Rapana scored two tries for Canberra in a 34-30 victory over Canterbury.

Statistics

*denotes season still competing

References

External links

Canberra Raiders profileNRL profileRLeague.com profileWestern Force Profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rapana, Jordan 1990 births Living people ACT Brumbies players Australian people of Cook Island descent Australian people of Māori descent Canberra Raiders players Cook Islands national rugby league team players Gold Coast Titans players Mount Pritchard Mounties players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand people of Italian descent New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand Latter Day Saints Rugby league wingers Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Wellington City Rugby union players from Wellington City Souths Logan Magpies players Western Force players Cook Island rugby league players Rugby league players from the Gold Coast, Queensland Rugby union players from Queensland Sportsmen from Queensland