Taniela Tuiaki
.jpg)
Tuiaki in 2009
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Personal information
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | TNT, The Tank | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
2 May 1982 Auckland, New Zealand |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Playing information
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 105 kg (16 st 7 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: League Central Rugby League Project |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Taniela Tuiaki (born 2 May 1982 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby league player who played for the Wests Tigers in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) competition. Tuiaki was a versatile player but primarily played on the wing.
Tuiaki played junior football with North Curl Curl. He made his NRL debut after switching from Rugby union, playing on the wing for the Wests Tigers against the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium in round 11 of the 2006 season. He scored two tries on debut, and was a regular on the wing for the next three and a half years.
Playing in every club game for 2007, Tuiaki scored 6 tries in the last 7 weeks. In the second half of the season, he spent a three-week stint in the second row. He managed 20 games in 2008, scoring his first treble against the Warriors at Leichhardt Oval on June 29.
In round 23 of the 2009 season, Tuiaki scored three tries, taking him to the top of the try-scoring table for the season with a total of 21. A broken ankle in round 24 while playing against the Parramatta Eels sidelined Tuiaki for the remainder of the season. At the time he was leading or well-ranked in many NRL stats, including line-breaks and tackle busts.
In 2009, Tuiaki was named winger of the year in the Dally M awards and the Big League team of the year. He also set the record for most tries scored in a season by a Wests Tigers player.
Still suffering from the injury suffered at the end of 2009, Tuiaki failed to make any appearances in the 2010 season. There were some doubts whether Tuiaki would ever make a full recovery, and Wests Tigers signed him to an incentive-based contract for 2011, with bonuses for playing in set number of games.
...
Wikipedia