Nita Maynard (born 7 July 1992) is a New Zealand

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 currently plays for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in the

NRL Women's Premiership The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is ...

. Primarily a , she is 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

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

representative. Before switching to rugby league, she represented Australia in

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 it ...

and rugby sevens. She previously played for the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Background

Born in

Gisborne, New Zealand Gisborne ( mi, Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa "Great standing place of Kiwa") is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne District (or Gisborne Region). It has a population of The district council has its headquarte ...

, Maynard moved to Australia in 2011.

Playing career

Rugby union

In 2014, she represented the Australian Wallaroos and in 2016, represented the Australia 7s team. She played for the

Parramatta Two Blues Western Sydney Two Blues Rugby, formerly Parramatta Two Blues Rugby, is a rugby union club based in Parramatta, the second CBD of Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1879 and competes in the Shute Shield run by the New South Wales Rugby ...

before switching to

in 2017.

Rugby league

In 2017, Maynard joined 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 ...

team in the

NSWRL Women's Premiership The Harvey Norman Women's Premiership is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. It is the only state wide open age competition for women in New South Wales and is run by New South Wales Rugby League. The NSWRL Women's Premiershi ...

. In October 2017, she was selected in the

2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup squad. On 2 December 2017, she came off the bench in New Zealand's 16–23

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

loss to Australia. In May 2018, she represented NSW City at the Women's National Championships. On 22 June 2018, she represented

in their 16–10 win over

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. This would be Maynard's lone appearance for the Blues, as in April 2019, revised eligibility laws were introduced which ruled her ineligible to represent New South Wales. On 16 June 2018, she signed with the

team. In Round 1 of the 2018 NRL Women's season, she made her debut for the Roosters in their 4–10 loss to 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 ...

. On 30 September 2018, she started at in the Roosters' 12–34 Grand Final loss to the

. On 19 October 2019, Maynard scored the winning try for New Zealand in the final of the

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member ...

against Australia. On 25 October 2020, she started at in the Roosters' 20–10 NRLW Grand Final loss to the Broncos. On 20 February 2021, she represented the Māori All Stars in their 24–0 win over the Indigenous All Stars. In October 2022 she was selected for the New Zealand squad at the delayed

2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the sixth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup, and was be one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 1 November to 19 Novem ...

in England. In May 2023, she signed with the

. In round 1 of the 2023 NRLW season, she made her Knights debut against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profileBrisbane Broncos profileSydney Roosters profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maynard, Nita 1992 births Living people Australia international rugby sevens players Australia international rugby union players Australian people of New Zealand descent New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand female rugby league players New Zealand women's national rugby league team players Rugby league hookers Sydney Roosters (NRLW) players Parramatta Eels (NRLW) players Brisbane Broncos (NRLW) players Newcastle Knights (NRLW) players Australia women's international rugby union players Rugby union players from Gisborne, New Zealand Rugby union scrum-halves