Nigel Faletoese Vagana (born 7 February 1975), also known by the
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
s of "Pablo", and "Chiko", is a 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 112 ...
footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, as a and . A
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Samoa international representative, he retired as the Kiwis' all-time top try-scorer with 19. Vagana played club football in New Zealand for the
Warriors
A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste.
History
Warriors seem to have be ...
, in England for
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
, and in Australia for 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 facilita ...
,
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 league ...
and the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...
. Vagana represented the
New Zealand national team 32 times between 1998 and 2006, including playing in the
2000 World Cup.
He is also the cousin of
Bradford Bulls
The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...
prop-forward
Joe Vagana
Joseph Sonny Vagana (born 21 January 1975), also known by the nickname of "Big Joe", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a Prop forward in the 1990s and 2000s. During his career Vagana played for the Auckland Warriors ...
, and former Silver Ferns netball player
Linda Vagana.
Background
Of
Samoan descent, Vagana was born in
Auckland, New Zealand
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 ...
on 7 February 1975. Vagana played for the Auckland Colts at in the grand final of the
1995 Lion Red Cup
The 1995 New Zealand rugby league season was the 88th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the second season of the Lion Red Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. The ...
, scoring a try in his side's loss.
Playing career
1990s
Vagana was selected as part of the
Samoa national team for the
1995 World Cup, but did not play a game. During the
1996 Auckland Warriors season Vagana made his first Premiership appearance for the club at centre. He also was selected in the New Zealand team that competed in the
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 ...
tournament in Fiji. The side won the title, New Zealand's first world trophy.
Vagana left New Zealand to play in 1997's
Super League II
Stones Bitter Super League II was the official name for the year 1997's Super League championship season, the 103rd season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the second to be played in summer.
Teams
Twelve teams were ...
season for English club
Warrington Wolves
The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004.
Founded as Warrington Z ...
at . The following year he returned to Auckland and resumed playing at centre for the Warriors in the newly formed
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 ...
alongside his cousin
Joe Vagana
Joseph Sonny Vagana (born 21 January 1975), also known by the nickname of "Big Joe", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a Prop forward in the 1990s and 2000s. During his career Vagana played for the Auckland Warriors ...
. He was selected to make his début for the
New Zealand national team in the
1998 Anzac Test
The 1998 Anzac test was a rugby league test match played between Australia and New Zealand at the North Harbour Stadium 24 April 1998. It was the 2nd Anzac test played between the two nations since the first was played under the Super League ...
against Australia from the internchange bench. Vagana finished the
1998 Auckland Warriors season as the club's top
try
Try or TRY may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio
* ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs
* "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987)
* "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014)
* "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004)
* " Try (Ju ...
scorer.
Vagana finished the
1999 Auckland Warriors season second only to
Stacey Jones
Stacey William Jones (born 7 May 1976) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced. He played as a , but he has also briefly played at during his disting ...
in total tries scored for the club. He was selected for the
New Zealand team to compete in the end of season
1999 Tri-Nations tournament. In the final against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
he played on the wing and scored a
try
Try or TRY may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio
* ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs
* "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987)
* "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014)
* "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004)
* " Try (Ju ...
in the Kiwis' 22–20 loss. He was the tournament's top try-scorer.
2000s
Vagana was selected to play for New Zealand on the wing in the
2000 Anzac Test. He finished the
2000 Auckland Warriors season as the club's top try-scorer. Vagana was then selected in the New Zealand squad for the
2000 World Cup. The Kiwis reached the final against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and he played on the wing in the loss to the Kangaroos.
Vagana commenced playing for Sydney's
Canterbury-Bankstown
Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...
for the
2001 NRL season
The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested b ...
. At the 2001 Dally M Awards Vagana was named the NRL's centre of the year.
In April 2002, Vagana became the first Canterbury player since 1942 to score five tries in a match. That season he was the League's top try-scorer. At the
2002 Dally M Awards Vagana was named the NRL's centre of the year. He was selected to go on the
2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France, playing at centre.
Clinton Toopi
Clinton James Te-Whata Toopi (born 29 February 1980) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A New Zealand international representative , he played his club football in the ...
broke his hand in a scuffle with Vagana during a team drinking session after the second test. Team management initially tried to cover up the incident, claiming the injury occurred during the match, before media found out and had a field day. Vagana played in all five test matches of the tour.
During the
2002 NRL season the ladder-leading Canterbury were stripped all competition points and given record-breaking fines for
salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
breaches, meaning they finished the season with the wooden spoon.
Vagana moved to another Sydney club, 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 league ...
for the
2004 NRL season
The 2004 NRL season (also known as the 2004 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra) was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed dur ...
. He was selected to play for New Zealand at fullback in the
2004 Anzac Test. Vagana finished the
2004 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season at the club's top try-scorer. In the post-season
2004 Tri-Nations
The second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament (known as the Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship) was contested between 16 October and 27 November of 2004. The format of the competition differed from the previous event in that the teams pl ...
tournament Vagana was selected to play in the centres for
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in all four of their matches.
Vagana was selected play for New Zealand at centre in the
2005 Anzac Test. At the end of the season he was selected to go to Britain with the Kiwis for the
2005 Tri-Nations tournament, playing at in all matches, including the final in which they defeated Australia.
![NIGEL VAGANA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Nigel_Vagana_2008.jpg)
Vagana was selected to play for New Zealand at in the
2006 Anzac Test. He was selected to represent New Zealand in the
2006 Tri-Nations
The 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations (also known as the Gillette Rugby League Tri-Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The tournament followed the same format ...
tournament, playing at in the final which was lost to Australia. Vagana announced his retirement from international rugby league following the
2006 Tri Nations series.
Vagana signed a two-year contract with NRL club
South Sydney, starting in 2007, expiring at the end of 2008. At the end of the
2007 NRL season
The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusio ...
the
2007 All Golds tour The 2007 All Golds Tour was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team, the Kiwis, of Great Britain and France. Conducted as part of the celebrations of a century of rugby league in New Zealand, it was a re-creation of the original New Ze ...
took place, celebrating the centenary of the
, which saw the first games of rugby league ever played in the Southern hemisphere. Vagana came out of international retirement to play for an invitational "All Golds" side against Great Britain.
The 2008 season was Vagana's last in the NRL. Although already retired, Vagana was named in the
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 ...
squad for the post-season
2008 World Cup,
and captained the side in the tournament, scoring tries in both their matches.
Honours
*2001 -
Dally M
The Dally M Awards are the official annual player awards for the National Rugby League competition. As well as honouring the player of the year, who received the Dally M Medal, awards are also given to the premier player in each position, the b ...
Centre of the Year
*2002 -
Dally M
The Dally M Awards are the official annual player awards for the National Rugby League competition. As well as honouring the player of the year, who received the Dally M Medal, awards are also given to the premier player in each position, the b ...
Centre of the Year
Post playing
Following his retirement from the playing field, Vagana became a
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 ...
education and welfare officer.
References
External links
International player profileCanterbury Bulldogs profileNigel Vagana Souths Profile*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vagana, Nigel
1975 births
Living people
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players
Junior Kiwis players
New Zealand national rugby league team captains
New Zealand national rugby league team players
New Zealand people of Samoan descent
New Zealand rugby league players
New Zealand Warriors players
People educated at St Paul's College, Auckland
Richmond Bulldogs players
Rugby league centres
Rugby league five-eighths
Rugby league fullbacks
Rugby league players from Auckland
Rugby league wingers
Samoa national rugby league team captains
Samoa national rugby league team players
South Sydney Rabbitohs players
Warrington Wolves players