Nathaniel Roache 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 11 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

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 ...

. He 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

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 the NRL.

Background

Roache was born in

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

and is of Samoan and Irish descent. He attended Edendale Primary School in Sandringham then Balmoral Intermediate before studying at Mount Albert Grammar School. His junior club was

Richmond Rovers The Richmond Rovers Rugby League Club is a rugby league club based in Grey Lynn, New Zealand. The premier team is called the Richmond Bulldogs and compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. Early history The club was formed i ...

Playing career

Early career

While at Mount Albert he competed in the College Rugby League First XIII competition and the 2013 National Secondary Schools tournament, where he was named in the tournament's merit team. He played for the New Zealand Residents under-18 side in 2013 and 2014. Signed by the

, in 2014 Roache made his

Holden Cup The NRL Under-20s (known commercially as the Holden Cup due to sponsorship from Holden) was the top league of professional rugby league for players aged 20 years or younger in Australasia. Contested by sixteen teams, the Under-20s competition c ...

debut for the Junior Warriors at five eighth. On 5 October 2014, Roache started at centre for the Junior Warriors in their 2014 Holden Cup

Grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...

against the junior

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 c ...

in the 34-32 victory. Early in the game he was shifted to hooker in response to an injury and received praise for his performance, which included setting up a try for

Tuimoala Lolohea Tuimoala Lolohea (born 23 January 1995) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Huddersfield Giants in the Betfred Super League. He has played for both New Zealand and Tonga at international level. Lolohea previou ...

Roache played in the 2015 and

2016 NRL Auckland Nines The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. As with previous tournaments, it was ...

for the Warriors. In 2015 Roache was converted to play at hooker and signed to a two-year contract extension with the club.

2016

In Round 1 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, Roache made his debut for the

against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...

, playing off the interchange bench in the Warriors 26-34 loss at

Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Stadium, formerly Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, is a multi-use stadium in Leumeah, New South Wales, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. It is the home ground of the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Wests Ti ...

2017

In the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, Roache made nine appearances as the club finished a disappointing 13th on the table.

2018

Roache made no appearances for New Zealand in the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

as the club qualified for the finals for the first time since 2011.

2019

Roache played six games for New Zealand Warriors franchise in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club missed out on the finals.

2020

In November 2020, Roache signed a developmental contract with Parramatta for the 2021 season after being released by the New Zealand Warriors.

2021

Roache began the year player NSW Cup coming off the bench, later starting at hooker. In round 15 2021, Roache made his Parramatta debut against the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

Bankwest Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, commercially known as CommBank Stadium, is a multi-purpose rectangular stadium in Parramatta, within the Greater Western Sydney region, approximately west of Sydney CBD. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadi ...

. During the match, Roache injured his knee and was ruled out for an indefinite period.

2022 & 2023

After being released by Parramatta in November, Roache signed a train and replacement contract with Manly-Warringah. Roache made no appearances for Manly in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...

. Roache instead played for the clubs feeder side the

Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles The Blacktown Workers Rugby League Football Club, also known as Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles, are an Australian rugby league football club based in Blacktown, New South Wales formed in 1962. Since 2017 they have had a side in the NSW Cup, as the ...

in the NSW Cup making 14 appearances.

References

External links

Parramatta Eels profileNew Zealand Warriors profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roache, Nathaniel 1996 births Living people New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand Warriors players Parramatta Eels players Richmond Bulldogs players Rugby league hookers Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Auckland People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School Junior Kiwis players