Taioalo "Junior" Vaivai (born 18 January 1990) is a Professional Rugby League player. He is also a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

international who plays as a for

Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship. The cl ...

in the English Super League. He has previously played for 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. Penrith ...

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

and the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...

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

Vaivai was 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. He also played his junior football for Redbank Plains Bears in the Ipswich junior rugby league. Vaivai played his junior

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 ...

for the

Goodna Eagles Goodna is a suburb on the eastern edge of the City of Ipswich in Queensland, Australia. In the , Goodna had a population of 10,461 people. Geography Goodna is from the Brisbane central business district, being just outside the Brisbane City C ...

and the

Easts Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia. Vaivai has previously worked as a personal trainer at Aventus Health and Fitness, in Warrawong, Australia. He is the cousin of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

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Senior career

South Sydney Rabbitohs (2009–11)

Covering for an injury to

Beau Champion Beau Champion (born 23 December 1986) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Melbourne Storm, Gold Coast Titans and Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League. He is the second c ...

, Vaivai made his

début in round 24 of the 2009 season, against the

. In 2009 and 2010, he played for the

in the National Youth Competition. Vaivai scored 40 tries in 40 matches and kicked 40 goals from 42 attempts . Vaivai was named at , in the 2009 National Youth Competition 'Team of the Year.' Vaivai was also named in Steve Price’s Toa Samoa squad in 2010 but was ruled out due to injury.

Penrith Panthers (2011)

Vaivai joined Penrith for the remainder of the 2011 season, making his club début as a late call-up to cover for an injury to

Luke Lewis Luke Lewis (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian rugby league commentator and former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia ...

Illawarra Cutters (2013)

In 2013, Vaivai joined the

Illawarra Cutters The Illawarra Rugby League Football Club were an Australian rugby league football club based in Illawarra formed in 2012. Originally known as the Illawarra Cutters, they became known as the Illawarra RLFC before the 2017 Intrust Super Premiershi ...

in the New South Wales Cup.

Western Suburbs Red Devils (2017)

In 2017, Vaivai played for the Western Suburbs Red Devils in the Illawarra Rugby League competition.

Hull Kingston Rovers (2018 – present)

In February 2018, Vaivai signed a one-year contract with

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. After a lengthy and drawn-out

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application process, which frustratingly prevented Vaivai from making his début for Hull Kingston Rovers, Taioalo finally made his first appearance for Hull Kingston Rovers in round 11 of the 2018 Super League season, in a 40–26 defeat against the Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Vaivai scored his first try for Hull Kingston Rovers on 13 May 2018, in a 10–28

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

home defeat against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

at Craven Park. It was revealed on 2 July 2018, that Vaivai had signed a new two-year contract extension to play and remain at Hull Kingston Rovers until at least the end of the 2020 rugby league season.

York City Knights (Loan)

It was announced on 23 May 2019, that Vaivai had joined the York City Knights on a one month loan deal with fellow

' teammate, Will Oakes. On 26 May 2019, Vaivai made a try-scoring début for York City in a 12–16 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

Toulouse Olympique

In 2019, Vaivai joined

RFL Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the Rugby Football League Championship Second Division, second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football Lea ...

side Toulouse Olympique and was part of the side which gained promotion to the Super League after defeating Featherstone in the 2021

Million Pound Game Million Pound Game (stylized as £1M Game) was an annual playoff final rugby league game that decides which Championship team will be promoted to Super League the following season. Between 2015 and 2018, the game was played as part of The Qualif ...

. On 18 May 2022, Vaivai announced he was departing Toulouse with immediate effect.

Representative career

USA (2016–17)

Qualifying through his

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

n mother and grandmother, Vaivai made his début for the

in their 2016 America's Cup match against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. On 24 September 2017, Vaivai was named in the

' 23-man squad 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 ...

Representative career statistics

Honours

Individual Honours (Career Awards and Accolades)

* 2009 National Youth Competition: 'Team of the Year'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaivai, Taioalo 1990 births Living people Eastern Suburbs Tigers players Hull Kingston Rovers players Illawarra Cutters players New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand people of American Samoan descent New Zealand expatriate sportspeople New Zealand rugby league players Penrith Panthers players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Auckland South Sydney Rabbitohs players Toulouse Olympique players United States national rugby league team players Windsor Wolves players York City Knights players