Zahara Temara (born 4 July 1997) is an 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 players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

in the

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

and the

Burleigh Bears The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. Since their admission to the competition in 1997, the ...

in the

QRL Women's Premiership The QRL Women's Premiership, known as the BMD Premiership due to sponsorship from BMD Group, is the top level of women's rugby league football in Queensland, Australia. Run by the Queensland Rugby League, the competition is Queensland's first s ...

. She is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

and

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 , established_ ...

representative, who also played for the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competition ...

in the

Super W The Super W is a women's rugby union competition held in Australia. The inaugural season was in 2018, when it replaced the former National Women's Rugby Championship. The are the most successful team so far, . Teams Six women's rugby teams c ...

Background

Born in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, Temara emigrated to

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 ...

with her family in 2007, where she played her junior rugby league for the

Nerang Roosters The Nerang Roosters were formed in 1977 and currently field male and female teams in all junior grades of the Gold Coast Rugby League. The club is based at Glennon Park. Notable juniors *Jaelen Feeney (2016 Newcastle Knights) *Keegan Hipgrave ( ...

on the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

. Her younger sister, Chante, plays for the

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 com ...

NRLW team. She played her junior football with boys until she turned 12 and went on the play for Nerang Roosters girls team. They went on to make the final but were comprehensively beaten in the final by

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two non-Queensland teams to play in the Queensland Cup, along with the ...

. Thereafter the Roosters went on to win back-to-back U15 and U16 titles against

Logan Brothers Logan Brothers was a firm of boat and yacht design and builders. Although their Auckland yard lasted only from 1890 to 1910, it was the most significant yacht- and boat-building business in the Southern Hemisphere during its time, dominating the ...

. She attended Worongary Primary School and to

Keebra Park State High School Keebra Park State High School (KPSHS), referred to as Keebra Park or Keebra, is a co-educational public secondary school, located in the Gold Coast suburb of Southport, Queensland, Australia. Notable alumni Cricket * Ingrid Cronin-Knight – I ...

Playing career

Rugby league

Zahara played for the Nerang Roosters U18 girls team and played in the Burleigh Women's Rugby league women's team at the same time after turning 17. Whilst the Nerang Roosters made the final, they were beaten by Aspley Rugby League Club. In her first year in the Burleigh women's team, they went on to make the semifinals but were knocked out by Beerwah Rugby League Club, where she played fullback. The next year Zahara played rugby union for Helensvale Rugby team, where they went on to make the semifinals, only to be knocked out by a committed Redland Bay team. She continued to play rugby league in the same season where they played Souths Magpies. South Magpies were undefeated all season and had soundly beaten the Bears during the regular season. That all changed in the final, where the Burleigh Bears managed to win their first premiership title. The Bears went on to win another 2 premierships thereafter (3 peat). On 5 May 2017, she debuted as a 5/8 for the

Australian Jillaroos The Australia women's national rugby league team, also known as the Australian Jillaroos, or Harvey Norman Jillaroos for sponsorship reasons, represents Australia in women's rugby league. They are administered by the Australian Rugby League Comm ...

against the Kiwi Ferns, scoring a try. Zahara went on tour with the Jillaroos rugby league team to PNG playing in the first ever women's rugby league match with that nation. She scored 3 tries (a hat trick) against Canada at the Rugby League World Cup 2017 where she played in the centre position. Zahara played a utility role in the World Cup final coming off the bench as a forward securing a memorable win against the Kiwi Ferns at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, 2 December 2017. In June 2018, Temara was announced as one of fifteen marquee signings by the Sydney Roosters women's team which will participate in the inaugural

in September 2018.

Rugby union

Temara had previously played 3 seasons for the Helensvale Hogs RUC rugby women's team securing representative honours with the Queensland Reds each year. Zahara continued to play Rugby League for the

sometimes playing 2 games back to back on the same day. The Burleigh Bears won 3 consecutive premiership titles and was named player of the final in 2017. That same year she was selected in the

Queensland women's rugby league team The Queensland women's rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons", after the colour of their jersey, the team compete in the annual Women's State of Origin game against arch- ...

against

New South Wales women's rugby league team The New South Wales Women's rugby league team represents the Australian state of New South Wales in Women's rugby league football. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series again ...

. They were beaten by a well drilled NSW team in Wollongong. In 2018 Zahara was selected to play for the

in the

Brisbane Global Rugby Tens The Global 10s is a rugby tens tournament held during February each year in Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium. It is hosted by Duco Events and the Queensland Rugby Union. The inaugural tournament was held in 2017. The Super Rugby teams from Aus ...

tournament. She played as the starting 5/8 after pool play went onto play

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

in the final. The Queensland Reds went on to win the final and were crowned winners of the Brisbane Global rugby Tens. Later that year she was unable to commit to rugby union due to the ongoing semi professional Rugby League commitments. Despite this she managed to play two games. One against WA as a reserve where they overcame a 20-point second half deficit to beat WA by 2 points. The Queensland Reds went on to play NSW in the inaugural

rugby union final. Zahara started in the final but in extra time NSW prevailed winning via a penalty goal in extra time.

References

External links

Sydney Roosters profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temara, Zahara 1997 births Living people Australia women's national rugby league team players Australian female rugby league players Australian female rugby union players New Zealand emigrants to Australia Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Rotorua Rugby union players from Rotorua Sydney Roosters (NRLW) players 21st-century Australian women 21st-century Australian people