Taniela Tuiaki (born 2 May 1982) 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 on the for the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, 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 j ...

in the

NRL 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 ...

Background

Tuiaki was born in

Auckland 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 ...

, New Zealand.

Playing career

Club

Tuiaki played junior football with North Curl Curl. He made his NRL debut after switching from

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 its m ...

, playing on the wing for the Wests Tigers against 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 ...

Mt Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium (formerly known as Ericsson Stadium) is a multipurpose stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League, and occasionally hosts rugby union and internatio ...

in round 11 of the 2006 season. He scored two tries on debut, and was a regular on the wing for the next three and a half years. Playing in every club game for 2007, Tuiaki scored 6 tries in the last 7 weeks. In the second half of the season, he spent a three-week stint in the second row. He managed 20 games in 2008, scoring his first treble against the Warriors at Leichhardt Oval on 29 June. In round 23 of the 2009 season, Tuiaki scored three tries, taking him to the top of the try-scoring table for the season with a total of 21. A broken ankle in round 24 while playing against 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 ...

sidelined Tuiaki for the remainder of the season. At the time he was leading or well-ranked in many

stats, including line-breaks and tackle busts. In 2009, Tuiaki was named winger of the year in the Dally M awards and the

Big League ''Big League'' was the official magazine of the National Rugby League. Its predecessor, ''The Rugby League News'', was first published in 1920; in 1974 it was rebranded as ''Big League''. In 2020, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in ...

team of the year.Middleton, David (Editor); ''2009 Official Rugby League Annual''; published 2010 for 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 ...

by News Magazines, Alexandria NSW, 2015 He also set the record for most tries scored in a season by a

player. Still suffering from the injury suffered at the end of 2009, Tuiaki failed to make any appearances in the 2010 season. There were some doubts whether Tuiaki would ever make a full recovery, and Wests Tigers signed him to an incentive-based contract for 2011, with bonuses for playing in set number of games. Despite undergoing three operations, the ankle had still not gained full strength when Tuiaki announced his retirement before the start of the 2011 season, saying, "It's a real disappointment. I can't keep running, even after all these surgeries – it's not getting better."

Representative

Tuiaki represented

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

in two international matches against England in 2006, scoring a try in each game. In October 2007 Tuiaki was cleared to play for New Zealand 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 ...

in the 2007 Centenary Test. He went on to play in the three match series loss to the

Great Britain Lions The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, ...

in England in October–November 2007, scoring a try in the final game. He was named in the New Zealand 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 b ...

. Tuiaki was named in the

squad for the

. Although he was not selected for the final New Zealand squad, Tuiaki was not allowed to play for Tonga as the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) deemed him ineligible. Tonga appealed the decision but the NSW Supreme Court declined to grant an injunction which would enable Tuiaki and

Fuifui Moimoi Fuifui Moimoi (born 26 September 1980) is a rugby league footballer who plays as a . He most notably played for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League (NRL) from 2004 to 2014, in addition to playing for Leigh Centurions in the RFL Cha ...

to play in Tonga's opening match.

References

External links

Taniela Tuiaki at ''Wests Tigers''Taniela Tuikaki at ''NRL.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuiaki, Taniela 1982 births New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent Tonga national rugby league team players Tongan rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Wests Tigers players Rugby league wingers Rugby league second-rows Rugby league players from Auckland Living people