Mataupu Poching (born 7 February 1988 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) 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 currently plays for in

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 ...

. He has previously played 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 ...

for 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 ...

and the

AS Carcassonne Association Sportive of Carcassonne are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Carcassonne in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in the south of France. They play in the French Elite One Championship and a ...

in the French

Elite One Championship Elite 1 is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions worl ...

Early years

Poching attended

Aorere College Aorere College is a New Zealand co-educational state secondary school (Years 9–13) that was established in 1964 in the Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe. The current principal of the college is Leanne Webb. As of , there are approximately studen ...

and played for the

Mangere East Hawks The Mangere East Hawks are a rugby league based in Mangere, New Zealand. The Hawks compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was formed in 1963, the first fourteen junior teams took the field in 1964.''The Haw ...

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. He also played for the

Counties Manukau Jetz The Counties Manukau rugby league team represents the Counties Manukau zone in the Albert Baskerville Trophy. Previously, teams representing Southern Auckland and the Franklin district of New Zealand have competed in the Lion Red Cup and Barterc ...

in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Zeala ...

Warriors

As a 19-year-old he played in the

NSWRL Premier League 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 reserv ...

for the

Auckland Lions The Auckland Lions were a rugby league club that had teams in both the New Zealand Bartercard Cup and the NSWRL Premier League. They were mostly drawn from the Mt Albert Lions Rugby League club. Mt Albert had a proud tradition in Auckland and had ...

in twenty matches before joining the Junior Warriors in 2008 with the creation of the Toyota Cup. He played in 24 of the team's 27 games and scored one try.Mataupu POCHING
''rleague.com'' This led to him being resigned for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He joined the

senior side in 2009 but his season was hampered with injury. He made his first grade debut on 15 May 2010, 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 ...

. In 2011 he was named the

Auckland Vulcans The Auckland Vulcans were an Auckland based rugby league club that participated in the New South Wales Cup. They were administered by the Rugby League Development Foundation. The team was selected from the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial C ...

Player of the Year.2011 Awards
''aucklandleague.co.nz'' He played in the French

for

in 2012. He played for the

Counties Manukau Stingrays The Counties Manukau rugby league team represents the Counties Manukau zone in the Albert Baskerville Trophy. Previously, teams representing Southern Auckland and the Franklin district of New Zealand have competed in the Lion Red Cup and Barterca ...

in the 2013 and 2015 National Competitions and in 2014 played in the

for the

.Counties Manukau Stingrays
''nzrl.co.nz''

Representative career

Poching was a

Junior Kiwi The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Supe ...

in 2006 and played for the NZ Under-18s in 2007.

References

External links

NRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poching, Matupu 1988 births Living people AS Carcassonne players Auckland rugby league team players Counties Manukau rugby league team players Junior Kiwis players Mangere East Hawks players New Zealand people of Chinese descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props