Dane Wairangi Manurea Koopu (born 2 April 1980) 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 for 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 ...

and 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. ...

in 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 ...

. Koopu primarily played in the , and as a . He is now a reporter for The Crowd Goes Wild. He is fluent in Te Reo Maori and often appeared on

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 ...

Background

Koopu was born in Opotiki, New Zealand on 2 April 1980. He is of

Te Whānau-ā-Apanui Te Whānau-ā-Apanui is a Māori iwi (Iwi is the Maori word for tribe) located in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions of New Zealand's North Island. In 2006, the iwi registered 11,808 members, representing 13 hapū. History Early ...

and Ngāti Awa iwi.

Playing career

Koopu started playing rugby league for the

Taniwharau Rugby League The Taniwharau Rugby League Club is a rugby league club from Huntly, New Zealand. They compete in the Waikato Rugby League and WaiCoa club competitions. The club plays in a green and gold strip and are based at Waahi Pa Huntly. History Taniwhara ...

club in

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...

, where he attended school at Te Wharekura o Rakaumanga. In 1998 he also represented the

Waikato Cougars The Waikato rugby league team (also known as the Waikato Cougars, formerly as South Auckland) is a New Zealand rugby league team that represents the Waikato Rugby League in New Zealand Rugby League competitions. They competed in the Lion Red Cup ...

, played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

and was named in the National Māori tournament team after representing Waikato Māori.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98'',

New Zealand Rugby Football 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 ...

, 1998. p.p.133-135 During the early part of 1999, Koopu played for the

Glenora Bears The Glenora Bears are a rugby league football club based in Glen Eden, New Zealand who compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was established in 1931 Auckland Rugby League season, 1931 when the Auckland ...

and represented Auckland North. While contracted to the Warriors, Koopu also played in the then feeder clubs for the NRL franchise, the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and the Newtown Jets. Koopu also represented the NZ Maori at the 2000 RLWC and played for the Kiwi's 3 times.

Warriors

Koopu made his

first grade First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by ...

debut for the

Auckland 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 ...

in Round 6, 1999. He went on to play for the club 159 times, earning the nickname "Mr Consistency". Koopu played for the New Zealand Māori in 1999 and at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Koopu played for the

from the interchange bench in their 2002 NRL Grand Final loss to the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, 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 ...

. It was not until 2004 that he made his debut for the

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 ...

. Koopu seriously injured his shoulder in 2006 and never fully regained his consistency with the Warriors. As a result, after ten years with the Warriors, Koopu was released by the club at the end of the 2008 season. That year Koopu again played for the New Zealand Māori in two games, including a match against an Indigenous Dreamtime side.

Melbourne

After being released by the Warriors, Koopu accepted a one-year contract with the

for the 2009 season. Koopu was named as reserve for the Storm team that won the 2009 NRL Grand Final, a premiership that was later stripped after their long-term salary cap breaches came to light in 2010.

Later years

In 2010 Koopu played alongside

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 ...

and

Awen Guttenbeil Awen Guttenbeil (born 14 March 1976) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Since retiring after a playing career spanning fifteen years, he went on to work as a broadcaster for Sky Network Televisio ...

in rebuilding

Pt Chev Pirates The Point Chevalier Pirates are an Auckland rugby league club based in Point Chevalier. The Pirates currently compete in the Fox Memorial (First Division) competition run by the Auckland Rugby League. History The club was founded in 1919."Yo ...

rugby league club in

Auckland Rugby League 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 ...

's Phelan Shield. In 2015, he was named at loose forward in Taniwharau's team of their first 70 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koopu, Wairangi 1980 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Glenora Bears players Junior Kiwis players Melbourne Storm players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league commentators New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players Point Chevalier Pirates players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Ōpōtiki Rugby league second-rows Taniwharau Rugby League Club players Waikato rugby league team players