Zeb Taia

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Zeb Taia
200px
Taia playing for the Knights in 2009.
Personal information
Full name John Zebelon Taia
Nickname Zebby
Born (1984-10-11) 11 October 1984 (age 40)
Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 104 kg (16 st 5 lb)[1]
Playing information
Position Second-row, Lock, Prop, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–07 Parramatta Eels 6 2 0 0 8
2007–12 Newcastle Knights 101 12 0 0 48
2013–15 Catalans Dragons 77 36 0 0 144
2016– Gold Coast Titans 11 5 0 0 20
Total 195 55 0 0 220
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
2012–13 Cook Islands 4 0 0 0 0
2013 Exiles 1 0 0 0 0
As of 12 November 2015
Source: Rugby League Project, Love Rugby League

Zeb Taia (born 11 October 1984) is an Australian-born New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League. He primarily plays at second-row and lock, but can also fill in at prop and centre and previously played for the Parramatta Eels and Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League, and Catalans Dragons in the Super League.

Playing career

Born in Auburn, New South Wales, Taia played his junior football for the Enfield Federals and the St Clair Comets before being signed by the Parramatta Eels. He played for the Eels' Premier League reserve-grade team in 2006.[2] In Round 5 of the 2006 NRL season he made his NRL debut for the Eels against the Penrith Panthers.

In 2007, Taia was granted a release from his Eels contract and moved mid-season to the Newcastle Knights. In 2008, Taia established himself as a permanent first-grader with the Knights. In the first week of the finals series of 2011, Taia made a comeback from a career threatening neck injury in which he suffered four rounds into the season.

On 16 May 2012, Taia signed a 3-year deal with French Super League club, Catalans Dragons starting in 2013. Taia said about the move, "Whilst my wife and I are looking forward to experiencing life in another country, a beautiful one at that, I am forever indebted to the Knights. Not just for the time I have been here but the support they showed me, particularly last season during a potentially career ending injury."[3]

On 5 August 2015, Taia signed a 2-year contract with the Gold Coast Titans to return to the National Rugby League after three years in France, starting in 2016.[4]

Representative career

For the 2010 Anzac Test, Taia was selected to debut for the New Zealand national rugby league team at second-row forward in their loss against Australia.[5]

On 16 October 2010, Taia represented the Cook Islands against a NSW Country representative side.[6] In the match Taia captained the side. He made his official international debut for the Cook Islands in 2012 in a match against Lebanon.

Zeb captained 'the Kukis' in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

Personal life

Taia is of Cook Islands descent as his parents are from the island of Penrhyn (Tongareva).[7]

References

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External links

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ [1] Archived 18 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ [2][dead link]
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ [3][dead link]
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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