Misi Taulapapa (born 25 January 1982) is a

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 ...

international

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 or er for

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 ...

in Betfred League 1. He has previously played 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

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 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 ...

, and the Sheffield Eagles and

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. Taulapapa has also played for the

Newcastle Thunder The Newcastle Thunder are a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in the Betfred Championship competition, the second tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom. They play their home matches at Kingsto ...

in League 1.

Early years

Taulapapa was born

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 originally played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for the Waitemata Football club, in the

Auckland Rugby Union The Auckland Rugby Union is a New Zealand provincial rugby union. The union was established in 1883 and was originally responsible for the administration of the sport in most of the former Auckland Province, although its boundaries have since ...

competition. He played with Waitemata when they won the Gallagher Shield in 2003. Taulapapa also represented the

Kelston Boys High School Kelston Boys' High School ("KBHS") (Te kura tuarua o nga tamatane o kerehana) is an all-boys state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in the Waitakere region of Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High Scho ...

's First XV in both regional and national tournaments.

Playing career

Taulapapa switched to

in 2004. Taulapapa was selected to play 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 ...

competition for the

Marist Richmond Brothers The Marist Richmond Brothers were a New Zealand rugby league franchise that played in the Bartercard Cup. They were a joint venture between two Auckland Rugby League clubs, the Richmond Bulldogs and the Marist Saints. In 2005 the competition w ...

from where he was picked up by the

. Taulapapa played in six matches for the

in 2006 before he was released mid-season for turning up to a training session intoxicated. After being released by the Warriors halfway through the 2006 season he moved to Queensland to finish the season at the

Central Comets Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They currently play in the Queensland Cup, the premier rugby league competition in Quee ...

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Taulapapa signed with the

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 leag ...

in 2007. Here he played as a solid winger and was a fringe NRL player. Taulapapa made 19 appearances for the club in 2008 as Cronulla finished 3rd on the table. Misi Taulapapa 2008

Taulapapa scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in the 2008 qualifying finals game against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

. 2 weeks later, Taulapapa played on the wing for Cronulla in their 28-0 preliminary final defeat by Melbourne.

Gateshead Thunder

Taulapapa originally signed with the

Gateshead Thunder Gateshead Thunder may refer to: *Gateshead Thunder (1999) Gateshead Thunder was a professional rugby league club founded in 1999 in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, which competed in the 1999 Super League but then merged with Hull Sharks af ...

for the 2010 season. However the club had financial difficulties which voided Taulapapa's contract.

Sheffield Eagles

He eventually signed with the Sheffield Eagles. After starting on the wing, he moved to full back after a long term injury ruled out the player in that position. He also took on the captaincy and by the end of the season was one of the stand out players for the Eagles, scoring a hat trick in a victory over the

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

. two weeks later, against the same opponents in the play-offs, he suffered a broken leg that ruled him out for the remainder of the 2010 season.

Hull Kingston Rovers

In August 2011 Taulapapa signed to

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 ...

club

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 Challen ...

. However, after his signature had been announced, Hull KR appointed a new manager - Craig Sandercock - who subsequently decided that Taulapapa did not fit into his plans for the 2012 season.

Sheffield Eagles (rejoin)

Taulapapa was released from his contract with Hull KR, without having played a single game, and re-signed for Sheffield, and later signed for

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

) ( Heritage № 1040). He would move to play for the

for the 2019 season.

Doncaster RLFC

On 9 Nov 2020 it was announced that he had signed for

for 2021.

Representative career

Taulapapa was a part of the

squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

. In 2009 he was named as part of the

squad for the

Pacific Cup The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition for national teams from the Pacific region. History The Pacific Cup was started in 1975 by Keith Gittoes of the New South Wales Rugby League.Poching names strong Samoan squad
''therhinos.co.uk'', 6 October 2009

References

External links

Featherstone Rovers profileMisi Taulapapa at ''Sharks.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taulapapa, Misi 1982 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Doncaster R.L.F.C. players Featherstone Rovers players Marist Richmond Brothers players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players Point Chevalier Pirates players Richmond Bulldogs players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Auckland Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Sheffield Eagles players