Tawera Nuieia Nikau (born 1 January 1967) is a New Zealand 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. A New Zealand international representative forward, he played club football at a number of different clubs in New Zealand, England and Australia during his career, including the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

's victory in the 1999 NRL season Grand Final.

Early years

Nikau was born in

Huntly, New Zealand Huntly ( mi, Rahui-Pōkeka) (population ) is a town in the Waikato district and region of the North Island of New Zealand. It was on State Highway 1 (until Huntly bypass opened in March 2020), south of Auckland and north of Hamilton. It is s ...

. He began his career playing rugby league for the

Otara Scorpions The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

and

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 ...

for the East Tamaki Rugby Union club 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 ...

before his family moved to the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

Playing career

and

representative, Nikau played his early club football for the

Otahuhu Leopards The Otahuhu Leopards are a rugby league club based in Otahuhu, Auckland. Founded in 1911 Auckland Rugby League season, 1911, the club has produced 49 New Zealand national rugby league team players. The club competes in the Fox Memorial competit ...

, Sheffield Eagles,

York Wasps The York Wasps (known simply as York from 1868 to 1989, Ryedale-York from 1989 to 1996 and York Wasps from 1996 to 2002) was an English professional rugby league club based in York. At the start of the 2002 season, the club was dissolved. A ne ...

(1990-1) and Castleford Tigers ( Heritage № 692). Tawera Nikau played in

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 ...

's 0–17 defeat by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on Saturday 16 October 1993. Tawera Nikau played in

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

's 12–28 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, 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 nor ...

in the 1992 Challenge Cup Final during the 1991–92 season at

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 2 May 1992, in front of a crowd of 77,386. Tawera Nikau played in Castleford Tigers' 33–2 victory over

in the 1993–94 Regal Trophy Final during the 1993–94 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

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 populati ...

on Saturday 22 January 1994. He spent the 1988 season with the

Canterbury 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 ...

on the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

's "Rookie Scheme". Having already spent several seasons playing in England, during which time he earned representative honours for

, from 1996 to 1999, Nikau played in the Australian NRL, spending the 1996–1997 with the

Cronulla 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 ...

, losing the 1997 Super League Grand Final to the Broncos in Brisbane. He joined the

team in its 1998 inaugural year, helping the team reach a third-place finish in the minor premiership. Melbourne also did well the following season and Nikau played as a in the 1999 NRL Grand Final victory over the St. George-Illawarra Dragons. Nikau's performance has been credited with sparking Melbourne's second-half comeback. From 1999 to 2001, Nikau was under contract with

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

franchise, the

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 ...

. As a player, he was known for his high energy, fearless charges and his sometimes terrifying facial expressions while playing. In defense he was often seen to be "everywhere"; making a tackle on one side of the field and the following the ball to complete a tackle on the other. Nikau suffered a personal tragedy on 5 April 2001, when his wife Letitia committed suicide. After taking some time from rugby to spend with his children in New Zealand, Nikau completed the season. He won in a charity boxing match in June 2002 against Samoan rugby union footballer

Peter Fatialofa Papali'itele Peter Momoe Fatialofa ( Samoan: ''Pita Fatialofa'') (26 April 1959 – 6 November 2013) was a Samoan rugby player who captained Samoa in their first Rugby World Cup appearance in 1991. He was among the first of the New Zealand-based ...

, supporting the Yellow Ribbon Fight for Life to prevent youth suicide.

Representative career

Between 1989 and 1997 Nikau was a

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

representative, although his international career was hindered by a dispute with Richie Blackmore that resulted in his refusal to play in the same side as Blackmore. Nikau toured with the New Zealand Māori side in 1996 and 1998 and played at the 1986 Pacific Cup. Nikau attended the 2000 World Cup as captain of the Aotearoa Māori side.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98'',

, 1998. p.118

Coaching & RL Administration

In 2004 Nikau was the inaugural coach of the

Waicoa Bay Stallions The Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions were a rugby league team that represent the Upper Central Zone of the New Zealand Rugby League. The Zone comprises four districts: Waikato, Coastline Rugby League, Bay of Plenty, and Gisborne Tairawhiti Rugby League. The ...

in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Zeala ...

. In 2004 and 2005 he coached the New Zealand Māori rugby league team. In November 2006, Tawera was appointed New Zealand and Islander Liaison Officer with 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 ...

. In 2010 Nikau was appointed a

selector for two years. Nikau also completed the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...

with

Frank Bunce Frank Eneri Bunce (born 4 February 1962) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player and coach. He played international rugby for both Western Samoa and New Zealand in the 1990s, appearing in the 1991 and 1995 World Cups. He played in four int ...

. In 2011 he was added as a consultant to the board of directors of the newly formed USARL.

Later years

In 2003 Nikau had a motorcycle accident which resulted in an amputation of his right leg. Nevertheless, he participated in the 2004 Yellow Ribbon Fight for Life, defeating Tea Ropati. In that same year, his athletic career to date and the details of the tragedies he had survived were described in the biography ''Standing Tall''. Nikau previously worked for

Māori Television Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and previously provided NRL match commentary for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. He is the chief executive of Aotearoa Construction and owner and managing director of Team One Corporate Development, a training company. he was convicted and fined after he failed to get a discharge without conviction. This conviction was later quashed on appeal.

Honours and awards

In the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, Nikau was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to rugby league and the community. In 2008 Nikau was inducted as one of the

NZRL The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

Legends of League. Nikau is also a

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

Hall Of Fame Inductee. He won a Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award for emerging leaders in 2011.

References

External links

Profile at thecastlefordtigers.co.ukWarrington’s World Cup heroes – Tawera Nikau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikau, Tawera 1967 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Castleford Tigers players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Halifax R.L.F.C. players Junior Kiwis players Melbourne Storm players Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand amputees New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team captains New Zealand Māori rugby league team coaches New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league commentators New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate sportspeople in Australia Northern Districts rugby league team players Otahuhu Leopards players Otara Scorpions players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Huntly, New Zealand Sheffield Eagles (1984) players Waikato rugby league team coaches Waikato rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players York Wasps players