Olivier Elima (born 19 May 1983) is a French 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 most recently head coach for the Palau Broncos in the French

Elite One Championship Elite 1 is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions wor ...

. A France international representative forward, he played previously for the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from outs ...

, Castleford Tigers ( Heritage No. 788),

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 ...

and the

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 ...

Background

Elima was born in Nantes,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Playing career

Elima has previously played in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

during the earlier part of his career. The French forward had an excellent season with the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in 2006. Elima plays in the , he has also featured at , and . Elima was named in the France training 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 ...

. Elima had been named in the France squad for the

. Elima captained France in the

2009 Four Nations The 2009 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (officially known as the Gillette Four Nations due to sponsorship) was the first Rugby League Four Nations since its expansion from the Tri-Nations tournament. Played in England and France over three ...

tournament, scoring his team's only try in their match against Australia. Elima captained

in the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's Festival of World ...

Tournament.

Bradford Bulls

Elima confirmed his switch to the Bradford Bulls and signed a two-year contract with the club in September 2010. Statistics do NOT include pre-season friendlies. 2011 – 2011 Season Elima appeared in two of the three pre-season games. He played against Dewsbury and

. Elima featured in eight consecutive games from Round 1

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

until Round 8

Harlequins RL The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

. He then appeared in Round 10 against 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 ...

to Round 13

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 ...

. Elima then featured in thirteen consecutive games from Round 15 against Salford to Round 27 against the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. He also appeared in the Challenge Cup game against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

. 2012 – 2012 Season Elima missed all the pre-season games due to a knee injury. Elima missed Rounds 1–6 due to an injury. He returned in round 7 to face St. Helens. He was suspended for Round 8. He featured in eleven consecutive games from Round 9

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

to Round 19 against Wigan. Elima also featured in Round 21 against Leeds. He was injured for Rounds 22–25. Elima featured in Round 26 Hull F.C. and Round 27 against the Catalans Dragons. He also featured in the Challenge Cup against

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 ...

and Warrington. It was later announced that Elima had signed a two-year deal with former club the

Coaching career

Palau XIII Broncos

He was appointed coach of Palau Broncos in 2017. On 23 December 2020 it was reported that he had been sacked by Palau XIII Broncos after their poor start to the

season

References

External links

Olivier Elima Official Website

Super League profile

Elima pledges future to Wildcats

Job's a good 'un!

Out of the box!

Reds mauled by Tigers

news about fiancée {{DEFAULTSORT:Elima, Oliver 1983 births Living people Bradford Bulls players Castleford Tigers players Catalans Dragons players France national rugby league team captains France national rugby league team players French rugby league players Palau Broncos coaches Palau Broncos players Rugby league second-rows Wakefield Trinity players