Jazz Iosefa Tevaga (born 4 September 1995) is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a and for the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL). He has signed to play for

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

from 2026. Tevaga previously played for the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

in the NRL.

Early years

Tevaga was born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, and is of

Samoan Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

descent. Tevaga played his junior football for the Burnham Chevaliers in Christchurch and

Papakura Sea Eagles The Papakura Sea Eagles are an Auckland rugby league club based in Papakura. The Sea Eagles currently compete in the Fox Memorial competition run by the Auckland Rugby League. History The Papakura Rugby League Club formed in 1931. On March 26 t ...

in Auckland and he attended

Papakura High School Papakura High School (PHS) is a co-educational state secondary school based in the Auckland suburb of Papakura in New Zealand, catering for students from Year 9 to Year 13. The school was established in 1954 and is now made up of a diverse stud ...

, where he played in the 2013 National Secondary School championship and was selected for the tournament team.

Playing career

Holden Cup

In January 2014, Tevaga attended a Junior Warriors training camp as an open trialist before being signed by the

, and playing in the

Holden Cup The NRL Under-20s (known commercially as the Holden Cup due to sponsorship from Holden) was the top league of professional rugby league for players aged 20 years or younger in Australasia. Contested by sixteen teams, the Under-20s competition co ...

. On 5 October 2014, Tevaga played at lock in the Warriors 2014 Holden Cup grand final winning team who beat the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

34-32. In 2015 he played both for the Junior Warriors (where he was co-captain) and in the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. On 2 May 2015, Tevaga played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...

against the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. Th ...

, starting at lock in the 22-20 loss at Cbus Super Stadium. Originally a

lock Lock(s) or Locked 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 entertainme ...

, Tevaga was converted to a during the 2014 season as he was considered too small for the lock position.

2016

In Round 3 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, Tevaga made his debut for the

against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

as a replacement for an injured

Issac Luke Issac Luke (born 29 May 1987) is a former New Zealand professional rugby league footballer He previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, New Zealand Warriors, St. George Illawarra Dragons, and the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugb ...

in the Warriors 21-14 loss at

Mt Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as Go Media Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League a ...

. Tevaga became Warrior #209, and played 59 minutes due to an injury to bench hooker

Nathaniel Roache Nathaniel Roache is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the North Sydney Bears in the NSW Cup. He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Parramatta Eels in the NRL. Background Roache was born ...

2017

He played just 4 NRL games for the Warriors in 2017. He represented

in the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

and played all four games as the starting hooker, scoring a try in their loss to

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

2018

In 2018 he cemented a position as a bench hooker for the Warriors, filling in for the starting 9

. He appeared in 20 games, 19 of which from the bench. His performance as a specialist bench player was rewarded at the

2018 Dally M Awards The 2018 Dally M Awards was presented on Wednesday 26 September 2018. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger. Dally M Medal Dally M Player of the Year: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck Dally ...

when he was given the first Interchange Player Of The Year award.

2019

Tevaga made 22 appearances for New Zealand in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club missed out on the finals.

2020

Tevaga made 12 appearances for New Zealand in the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

as the club once again missed out on the finals.

2021

In the final round of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, Tevaga was sent to the sin bin for fighting in the club's 44-0 loss against the Gold Coast.

2022

Tevaga made a total of 17 appearances for the New Zealand club in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

as they finished 15th on the table.

2023

Tevaga played eleven games for the New Zealand Warriors in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

as the club finished 4th on the table and qualified for the finals. He played in all three finals games as the club reached the preliminary final before being defeated by Brisbane.

2024

On 1 August 2024, it was announced that Tevaga would be leaving the New Zealand Warriors at the end of the season. He made 19 appearances for the New Zealand Warriors in the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

which saw the club finish 13th on the table. On 11 October 2024, Tevaga signed with the

for the 2025 season.

2025

Tevaga would leave the Sea Eagles at the end of the season and sign with

. On 5 July, Tevaga confirmed his two year deal with Wakefield.

Statistics

References

External links

New Zealand Warriors profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tevaga, Jazz 1995 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Junior Kiwis players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand Warriors players Ngāti Porou people Papakura Sea Eagles players People educated at Papakura High School Rugby league players from Christchurch Rugby league hookers Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Tainui people