Latham Tawhai (born 23 August 1972) is a

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 ...

coach and former player from New Zealand. He has also represented his country in

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

Playing career

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 ...

junior, Tawhai played in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition before being selected for

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 ...

, and making the North Harbour

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

side. After playing for the champion

North Harbour Sea Eagles The North Harbour Sea Eagles were a New Zealand rugby league club that represented North Harbour in the Lion Red Cup from 1994 to 1996. For the first two seasons they were coached by Graeme Norton. There two main feeder clubs were the Northcot ...

in the

, Tawhai represented New Zealand at the inaugural

Super League World Nines The Super League World Nines (known as the ''Gatorade Super League World Nines'' due to sponsorship), was a pre-season rugby league nines tournament between national sides. Set up in the midst of the Super League war and created in opposition to t ...

, helping the side to victory before signing for

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...

in 1996. He later went on to play for

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

(winning the Tom Bergin Trophy for Man of the Match in the 1999 Grand Final),

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

and

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 ...

. Tawhai then left Hull KR to take up a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

role at

in 2004.

Coaching career

Tawhai was part of the RFL's coaching pathway starting with the Leeds Service Area and Rhinos Scholarship Programme. He went on to assist with the Bradford Bulls Foundation before coaching on the RFL's Elite Player Camps. In 2005 after guiding local amateur club Drighlington to success in the Pennine Premier League, the Yorkshire Cup Final and winning the Pennine League Coach of the Year, he moved to London where he became the first full-time coach at the

London Skolars The London Skolars are a professional rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in north London. They were founded in 1995 and have been professional since 2003, operating in the Betfred League 1. They also run an ...

. In October 2007, after London Skolars best ever season, Latham was named the Co-operative National League Two Coach of the year. He left Skolars at the end of 2007 to become assistant coach at

Harlequins RL The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

under Brian McDermott. He remained with the renamed

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

until mid-season 2012 when he left the club, moving to Wales for personal and business reasons.

Other sports

Tawhai was a New Zealand

Fastpitch softball Fastpitch softball, also known as fastpitch or fastball, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. Fast pitch is considered the most competitive for ...

representative.Full-time coach for Skolars
''Haringey Independent'', 11 October 2005 He went on to play in the United States with the Larry Miller Club in Salt Lake City and make the USA National U23 Tournament Team. After being resident in the UK for a number of years, he represented Great Britain at the 2004 World Softball Championships. Tawhai was also an Auckland Rugby Union Junior representative.

References

External links

Harlequins profile

Tawhai Ready to Get Stuck In at Quins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tawhai, Latham 1972 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Doncaster R.L.F.C. players Hull Kingston Rovers players Hunslet R.L.F.C. players Keighley Cougars players London Skolars coaches New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand softball players North Harbour rugby league team players Northcote Tigers players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league five-eighths