Martin Moana (born 13 August 1973) is a New Zealand former 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 11 ...

footballer who was an international representative and played club football in England and New Zealand.

Early years

Moana started his senior career in 1989, playing for

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

in New Zealand domestic competitions. He made the Northern Zone U13's team in 1986, the New Zealand U15's Schoolboy Kiwis in 1988 and the New Zealand U17's in 1989. He 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 1992, being part of a successful team who defeated the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

.Richard Becht. ''A New Breed Rising: The Warriors Winfield Cup Challenge''. Auckland, HarperCollins, 1994. p.182. In 1993 Moana signed with

Auckland 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 toured Australia with their development side.

Waikato and Auckland

In the 1994

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 ...

Moana scored 14 tries in 22 games for the Waikato Cougars. He was then selected for the New Zealand Residents' tour of Australia and named in the New Zealand Māori side for the 1994

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.New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

, 1994. p.17 In 1995 he played for the

, and was in the inaugural side. He also represented New Zealand in the 1995 World Sevens.

England

Moana was not retained by the Warriors at the end of the year and in 1996 he joined Halifax Blue Sox in the Super League competition. He played there for five years and became a legend around Halifax. Moana competed for the Aotearoa Māori at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. At the end of 2000 Moana left Halifax, and became something of a rugby league nomad. He spent 2001 at both the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

and

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 ...

, 2002 at the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 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 Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...

, returned briefly to Halifax for the start of 2003 before finishing the season with the

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

. In 2005 he moved again re-joining Doncaster before seemingly settling at Swinton Lions where he was player of the year in 2006. He remained with the Swinton Lions until his retirement at the end of the 2009 season. Later life - BBEC Martin now works at BBEC school where he is pastoral manager. He is a much loved member of the school who is appreciated by all staff and pupils. One staff member was quoted as saying 'Martin is a top guy' and has helped alfie wood out

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moana, Martin 1973 births Living people Doncaster R.L.F.C. players Halifax R.L.F.C. players Huddersfield Giants players Huntly United players Junior Kiwis players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Huntly, New Zealand Salford Red Devils players Swinton Lions players Waikato rugby league team players Wakefield Trinity players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England