Lavinia Tauhalaliku
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| Born | 27 August 1999 Nuku'alofa, Tonga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Wing, Centre, Fullback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: RLP As of 22 September 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lavinia Tauhalaliku (born 27 August 1999) is a Tongan professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL Women's Premiership.
She is a New Zealand and Tongan international.
Background
[edit]Tauhalaliku was born in Nuku'alofa and attended Tupou High School.[1][2]
Playing career
[edit]Early years
[edit]Tauhalaliku began playing rugby league in Auckland, New Zealand for the Mangere East Hawks.[3]
She had previously played rugby union for Manurewa and the Counties Manukau women's team in 2018 and 2019.[4] In 2019 she was named to the Bolt team in the Red Bull Ignite7.[5]
In October 2020. she was selected for the New Zealand for their match against Fetū Samoa, starting at fullback.[6][7][8]
In June 2022, she was selected for Mate Ma'a Tonga.[9][10] On 22 June 2022 she was appointed captain of Tonga.[11]
In 2023, she played for the City side in Auckland, a combined Ponsonby Ponies and Pt Chevalier Pirates side that competed in the Auckland Rugby League competition. She was the leading try scorer with 15 from 13 games and was awarded the 2023 Auckland Rugby League club player of the year award at their prize giving.[12]
2024
[edit]In July, Tauhalaliku joined the Manly Sea Eagles inaugural women's side in the NSWRL Women's Premiership.[13] In Round 6, she scored five tries in a win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs.[14]
In August, Tauhalaliku joined the North Queensland Cowboys NRLW side for the remainder of the 2024 season as an injury replacement player.[15] In Round 6 of the NRLW season, she made her debut in a loss to the Brisbane Broncos. In Round 7, she scored her first try in a 24–22 win over Wests Tigers.[16][17]
On 18 September, she signed with the New Zealand Warriors on a three-year contract starting in 2025.[18]
References
[edit]- ^ "Tonga National School Championships 2015" (PDF). Athletics Oceania. 17 April 2015.
- ^ "Tonga National School Championships 2016" (PDF). Athletics Oceania. 28 April 2016.
- ^ "Getting to know: Lavinia Tauhalaliku". Manly Sea Eagles. 4 July 2024.
- ^ "Lavinia Tauhalaliku". New Zealand Rugby History. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Red Bull Ignite7 Athletes Announced". NZ Rugby. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Vulcans and Auckland club stars included in Ferns' wider squad". Auckland Rugby League. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Strong Warriors flavour in Kiwi Ferns squad". Warriors. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Kiwi Ferns name 11 new faces for Samoa international". Te Ao Māori News. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Mate Ma'a Tonga team announced for Kiwis match". Matangi Tonga. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ Alicia Newton (17 June 2022). "NRLW young guns named for Mate Ma'a Tonga". NRL. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Tonga skipper overwhelmed at receiving honour". RNZ. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "ARL Awards celebrate 2023 Premiership season". ARL. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ "Round 1 Harvey Norman NSW Women's team vs Eels". Manly Sea Eagles. 2 July 2024.
- ^ "Manly slice up Rabbitohs in Harvey Norman win". Manly Sea Eagles. 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Cowboys NRLW team list: Round 6 v Broncos". NQ Cowboys. 27 August 2024.
- ^ "Newest signing to make her NRLW debut". NQ Cowboys. 1 September 2024.
- ^ "Cowboys survive late scare to get past Wests Tigers". NRL.com. 7 September 2024.
- ^ "Three more NRLW signings". NZ Warriors. 18 September 2024.