Kelepi Tanginoa () (born 1 March 1994). Tanginoa is an Australian 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 forward and for

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

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 ...

. He previously played for 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 ...

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 ...

and 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 ...

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 ...

Background

Tanginoa was born in

Auburn, New South Wales, Australia Auburn is a Western Sydney suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Auburn is located west of the Sydney central business district and is in the Local government in Australia, local government area of Cumberland Council, New South Wale ...

. He played his junior football for the Canley Heights Dragons,

CVD Edensor Park Cobras The CVD Cobras (formerly Edensor Park Cobras) are a rugby league club located in Sydney's South Western suburbs. They play in the Parramatta District Junior Rugby League. History The formation of the Edensor Park Cobras Junior Rugby League Fo ...

and

Cabramatta Two Blues Cabramatta Two Blues, colloquially known as ''Cabra'', is an Australian rugby league football club that was originally formed in 1919 and then later completely formed as the Two Blues in 1939. They have always based from the Parramatta Junior Le ...

before being signed by the

, playing for their

Harold Matthews Cup The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 16. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up o ...

SG Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne (Victoria Thunderbolts) also participate. Prior to the C ...

and

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

teams. He attended Westfields Sport High School where he represented the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

in 2012. In 2010, Tanginoa represented the New South Wales under-16s side and in 2012 represented the New South Wales under-18s.

Playing career

2013

In round 2 of the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixte ...

, Tanginoa made his

debut for the Eels against the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

. In April, Tanginoa played for the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Under 20s team. He played 9 games for Parramatta in his rookie year before succumbing to a fractured hand and then a stress fracture in his right foot. Parramatta would finish the

in last place on the table for the second consecutive year. In July 2013, Tanginoa re-signed with the Parramatta club on a two-year contract. Kelepi Tanginoa

2014

On 29 August 2014, Tanginoa was released from his Parramatta contract, signing a two-year contract with

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 ...

, starting in 2015.

2015

In round 2 of the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followed ...

, Tanginoa made his debut for North Queensland, coming off the bench in the side's 14-16 loss to 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 ...

. On 27 September 2015, Tanginoa played in the

Townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

Intrust Super Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

Grand Final loss to the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Originall ...

. Tanginoa was a member of the Cowboys' 2015 Premiership winning squad, though he did not take part in the Grand Final.

2016

On 21 October 2015, Tanginoa signed a one-year contract to return to the

, after being released from the final year of his Cowboys contract. He would spend the season playing for the

Wentworthville Magpies The Wentworthville Magpies, colloquially known as ''Wenty'', are a rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in various Sydney district competitions an ...

in the

NSW 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 ...

2017

Tanginoa spent the first half of 2017 with Wentworthville before Parramatta released him from his contract. He then signed to play for the

2018

Tanginoa made 12 appearances for Manly in 2018 as the club avoided the wooden spoon by just 2 competition points.

2019

Tanginoa joined

side

for the

Super League XXIV Super League XXIV, known as the Betfred Super League XXIV for sponsorship reasons, was the 2019 iteration of and the 24th season of the Super League and 125th season of rugby league in Great Britain. Twelve teams competed over 29 rounds, incl ...

season. He played 14 games for the club as they finished 9th on the table.

2020

Tanginoa at the end of the 2020 season, signed a new contract that would keep him at

until the end of the 2024 season.

2021

On 25 June 2021 he played for the Combined Nations All Stars in their 26-24 victory over

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 ...

, staged at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, as part of England’s

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 ...

preparation.

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2019 season''

References

External links

Wakefield Trinity profileSL profileManly Sea Eagles profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanginoa, Kelepi 1994 births Living people Australian sportspeople of Tongan descent Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian rugby league players Cabramatta Two Blues players Combined Nationalities rugby league team players Junior Kangaroos players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players North Queensland Cowboys players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from New South Wales Rugby league second-rows Tongan sportspeople Townsville Blackhawks players Wakefield Trinity players Wentworthville Magpies players