Sitaleki Timani (born 19 September 1986), is a

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 ...

n-born,

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 A ...

professional

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 it ...

footballer. He made his test debut for the Wallabies in 2011. His usual position is

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. Timani's professional club career spanned eight seasons of

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

in France and seven seasons of Super Rugby in Australia. He currently plays for the

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also known as RCT but usually Toulon; oc, Rugbi Club Tolonenc) is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. A current participant in the first-tier Top 14 competition, they ...

in the

Family and early life

Sitaleki Timani was born in the Tongan village of Kolonga. His brothers Sione and Lopeti are both international rugby players. Timani played soccer until he attended Liahona High School and was introduced to rugby union. He was selected for the Tongan Schoolboys rugby team in 2003, and won a scholarship to attend Auckland Grammar School in New Zealand. He moved to Australia at the age of 19 and switched codes, playing

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 11 ...

for

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 leag ...

in the NRL's

Jersey Flegg Harry "Jersey" Flegg (6 April 1878 in Bolton, Lancashire23 August 1960 in North Sydney, New South Wales) was an English-Australian rugby league identity. Both a player and administrator, he was a leading figure in the birth of the sport in Aus ...

competition in 2006, and in

NSW Premier League The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Norther ...

in 2007.

Rugby union career

In August 2007, Timani returned to rugby union, playing for

Perth Spirit Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is p ...

in the

Australian Rugby Championship The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC and also known as the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship for sponsorship purposes, is a now-defunct domestic professional men's rugby union football competition in Australia, which ...

. He was selected for all Perth Spirit matches for the season, and played 8 times as starting lock. The team finished third on the ARC ladder, but lost their semi-final to the eventual champion team, the Central Coast Rays. The following year, Timani made his Super Rugby debut for the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. F ...

against the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

on 15 February 2008 in Durban, although he only made 3 appearances for the franchise during the season. He moved to the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

in 2009 and played most of the Super Rugby season, but then fell from favour and did not get any game time in 2010. Timani then took up a development contract with the

NSW 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 sta ...

, and won a regular starting position in the 2011 season. At that time, he was eligible to play for both Tonga (by birth) and Australia (by residency). He chose Australia and was selected by the Wallabies, playing against Samoa at Stadium Australia in Sydney on 17 July 2011. His decision to play for Australia meant he became ineligible to play for

Under IRB regulations, a player becomes permanently committed to a nation upon his first presence in a matchday squad with the country's full national team, "A" national team, or sevens national team. See especially Regulations 8.1 through 8.4. and it probably cost him an appearance at the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

later that year. He was not selected in the Australian squad for the 2011 tournament but probably would have been selected for Tonga, if eligible. In 2013, he signed a three-year deal with French side, Montpellier. Timani joined the club after travelling with the Wallabies on their 2013 end-of-year tour. He continued his career in the French Top 14 for another four years with Clermont from 2016. Timani returned to Australia in 2021, rejoining the Western Force to play in the

Super Rugby AU Super Rugby AU, formerly named the Harvey Norman Super Rugby AU for sponsorship purposes, was a rugby union competition organised by Rugby Australia. The competition was created to supplant the 2020 Super Rugby season, which had been suspended ...

competition.

Personal life

On 15 December 2012, Sitaleki married Angela (née Kelava), whom he had been dating for three years.

References

External links

Club stats
on It's Rugby
ARU Player ProfileWaratahs Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timani, Sitaleki 1986 births Living people Tongan emigrants to Australia Australian rugby union players Rugby union locks New South Wales Waratahs players Western Force players ACT Brumbies players RC Toulonnais players Australia international rugby union players People educated at Auckland Grammar School Montpellier Hérault Rugby players ASM Clermont Auvergne players