Zane Tetevano (born 4 November 1991) is a 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 plays as a and for the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

in the

Betfred 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 ...

. He has played for both the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

and

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 ...

at international level. Tetevano previously played for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

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 ...

and the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

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 ...

. He won an NRL premiership with the Roosters in 2018.

Background

Tetevano was born in

Tokoroa, New Zealand Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the M ...

, and is of Cook Islander and Maori descent. Tetevano played his junior football for the Pacific Sharks before being signed by the

. In 2006, Tetevano played for the

Under 16s team.

Playing career

Newcastle Knights

From 2008 to 2010, Tetevano played for the

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team. In 2011, Tetevano moved on to the Knights'

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

team. In Round 20 of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The NRL ...

, Tetevano made his

debut for Newcastle against the

Cronulla-Sutherland 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 ...

. In August 2011, Tetevano re-signed with the Knights on a 2-year contract. Zanetetevano2012

On 16 October 2013, Tetevano again re-signed with the

on a 2-year contract. On 14 May 2014, Tetevano was sacked by the

due to disciplinary reasons.

Wyong Roos

Tetevano joined the

Wyong Roos The Wyong Rugby League Football Club are an Australian rugby league club based on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The club competed in the New South Wales Cup from 2013 to 2018 and still competes in the Central Coast Division Rugby League ...

in the

for the rest of 2014.

Manly

On 1 October 2014, Tetevano signed a 1-year contract with the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

starting in 2015. On 2 October 2014, Tetevano had his contract with

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

terminated after he admitted in court to bashing his girlfriend on four occasions. In September 2016, Tetevano was named at lock in the 2016

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

Team of the Year.

Sydney Roosters

On 1 October 2016, Tetevano signed a 1-year contract with the

starting in 2017. On 30 September 2018, Tetevano was part of the

side which defeated Melbourne 21-6 in the

2018 NRL Grand Final The 2018 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2018 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday September 30 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between minor premiers the Sydney Roosters ...

. In round 25 2019, Tetevano played his 100th NRL game in the Roosters 16-10 loss to South Sydney at

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

. Tetevano made 24 appearances for the

in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club reached the

2019 NRL Grand Final The 2019 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2019 National Rugby League season and was played at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between defending premiers the Sydney Roosters and the Canberra Ra ...

. Tetevano was initially named in the grand final team but was then replaced by

Jake Friend Jake Friend (born 1 February 1990) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a . He spent his entire first-grade career, spanning 2008 to 2021, with the Sydney Roosters in the NRL; at the time of his retirement, he was the ...

and missed out on playing in the club's premiership victory. Following the match,

head coach

Trent Robinson Trent Robinson (born 15 March 1977) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Sydney Roosters in the NRL and a former professional rugby league footballer. He has previously held coaching positions at Toul ...

gave Tetevano his premiership ring.

Penrith Panthers

On 26 November 2019, Tetevano signed a three-year contract with Penrith worth around $350,000 starting in the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

Leeds Rhinos

On 26 December 2020, it was reported that Tetevano would join

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 ...

for the 2021 season. In the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

third-round match against St Helens, Tetevano was sent off in the club's defeat for the first time in his career. He was later given a four-match ban and fined £500. Tetevano played for Leeds in their 36-8 loss against St Helens in the semi-final as the club fell one match short of the 2021 Super League Grand Final. In round 16 of the 2022 Super League season, Tetevano was given a red card for a dangerous tackle during Leeds 42-12 loss against St Helens. On 24 September 2022, Tetevano played for Leeds in their 24-12 loss to

St Helens RFC St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and becom ...

in the 2022 Super League Grand Final.

International

In 2009, Tetevano played for the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

in the

2009 Pacific Cup The 2009 Pacific Cup, known as the 2009 SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league competition held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the , , , , . Tonga, Fiji and PNG had their places in the draw co ...

and again in 2010. At the end of 2013, Tetevano played for the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

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 2013 Festival of World ...

held in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Domestic violence conviction

In 2014, Tetevano pled guilty and was sentenced to at least nine months jail for bashing his then girlfriend on four separate occasions. However, the jail time was overturned on appeal. During the appeal Judge Roy Ellis was "impressed with his rehabilitation", and Tetevano's commitment to living "a simple life", while his lawyer argued that he had "no desire to return to the toxic environment that the NRL invites".

References

External links

Leeds Rhinos profileSydney Roosters profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tetevano, Zane 1990 births Living people Central Coast Centurions players Combined Nationalities rugby league team players Cook Island sportspeople Cook Islands national rugby league team players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Leeds Rhinos players Nelson Bay Blues players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent New Zealand rugby league players Newcastle Knights players Penrith Panthers players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Tokoroa Rugby league props Sydney Roosters players Wyong Roos players