Kiana Takairangi (born 20 July 1992) 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 who currently plays for the

Cronulla Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

in the

NRL Women's Premiership The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for women's rugby league in Australia, female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the ...

. A er or , she has represented 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 ...

and

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 ...

internationally. She previously played for 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 ...

and

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

NRLW The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is ...

and the Sharks in the

NSWRL Women's Premiership The Harvey Norman Women's Premiership is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. It is the only state wide open age competition for women in New South Wales and is run by New South Wales Rugby League. The NSWRL Women's Premiershi ...

Background

Kiana is the sister of

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

and

international

Brad Takairangi Brad Takairangi (born 14 June 1989) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er or . He has played for the Cook Islands, New Zealand and the New Zealand Māori at international level. Takairangi previously played for the Parra ...

. Her father, Louis, played three games 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 ...

in 1987. She has also played for the

Los Angeles Temptation The Los Angeles Temptation were a women's American football team in the Legends Football League, previously known as the Lingerie Football League, based in Los Angeles and Ontario, California. The team was established as Team Dream, one of two te ...

in the

Legends Football League The Extreme Football League (X League) is an American women's semi-professional tackle football league. The league was originally founded in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League (LFL), and later rebranded as the Legends Football League in 2013. ...

Playing career

In 2017, Takairangi represented 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 the

2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the fifth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup and was held in Australia between 16 November and 2 December 2017. Pool and semi-final matches was held at Southern Cross Group Stadium in Sydney ...

. On 22 June 2019, Takairangi made her debut for

, starting at and scoring two tries in a 46–8 win over

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. On 1 July 2019, she was named in the

squad. In Round 1 of the

2019 NRL Women's season The 2019 NRL Women's Premiership was the second season of professional women's rugby league in Australia. Teams Pre-season Regular season The season again operated under a round-robin format, with games played as curtain-raisers to the ...

, she made her debut for the Roosters in a 12–16 loss to 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 ...

. In October 2019, she was a member of New Zealand's

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member ...

-winning squad. In 2020, Takairangi re-signed with the Roosters as a development player for the

2020 NRL Women's season The 2020 NRL Women's Premiership was the third season of professional women's rugby league in Australia. Teams Pre-season Regular season The season operated under a round-robin format, with games played as curtain-raisers to the 2020 NR ...

. In June 2022, Takairangi signed with the

for the 2022 season. She made her club debut for the Knights in round 1 of the 2022 NRLW season against the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

. In the Knights' round 5 win over the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

, she made her first NRLW appearance at and scored her first try, where she beat 5 defenders on her way to the line. On 2 October 2022, Takairangi played in the Knights'

Grand Final win over the

, scoring two tries in the Knights' 32-12 victory. In April 2023, Takairangi signed a 1-year contract with new NRLW side

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profileSydney Roosters profileKiwi Ferns profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takairangi, Kiana 1992 births Living people Australian people of Cook Island descent Australian people of Māori descent Australian female rugby league players Cook Islands women's national rugby league team players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (NRLW) players Legends Football League players New Zealand women's national rugby league team players Newcastle Knights (NRLW) players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league wingers Rugby league centres Sydney Roosters (NRLW) players Sportswomen from New South Wales