Tawera Nikau
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Personal information
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| Full name | Nū Ia Tawera Nuieia Nikau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
1 January 1967 Huntly, New Zealand |
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Playing information
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| Position | Lock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tawera Nuieia Nikau (born 1 January 1967) is a former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s, and 2000s. A New Zealand international representative forward, he played club football at a number of different clubs in New Zealand, England and Australia during his career, including the Melbourne Storm's victory in the 1999 NRL season Grand Final.
Nikau was born in Huntly, New Zealand. He began his career playing rugby league for the Otara Scorpions and rugby union for the East Tamaki Rugby Union club in Auckland before his family moved to the Waikato.
A Waikato and Auckland representative, Nikau played his early club football for the Otahuhu Leopards, York Wasps, Sheffield Eagles and Castleford Tigers. Tawera Nikau played Loose forward/Lock in New Zealand's 0-17 defeat by Great Britain at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 16 October 1993. Tawera Nikau played Loose forward/Lock in Castleford's 12-28 defeat by Wigan in the 1992 Challenge Cup Final during the 1991–92 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 2 May 1992, in front of a crowd of 77,386. Tawera Nikau played Loose forward/Lock in Castleford Tigers' 33-2 victory over Wigan in the 1993–94 Regal Trophy Final during the 1993–94 season at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds on Saturday 22 January 1994. He spent the 1988 season with the Canterbury Bulldogs on the New Zealand Rugby League's "Rookie Scheme". Having already spent several seasons playing in England, during which time he earned representative honours for his country, from 1996 to 1999, Nikau played in the Australian NRL, spending the 1996-1997 with the Cronulla Sharks, losing the 1997 Super League Grand Final to the Broncos in Brisbane. He joined the Melbourne Storm team in its 1998 inaugural year, helping the team reach a third-place finish in the minor premiership. Melbourne also did well the following season and Nikau played at lock forward in the 1999 NRL Grand Final victory over the St. George-Illawarra Dragons. Nikau's performance has been credited with sparking Melbourne's second-half comeback. From 1999 to 2001, Nikau was under contract with Super League franchise, the Warrington Wolves.
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