Kelepi Tanginoa () (born 1 March 1994) is an Australian professional

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 forward and for

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. He previously played 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 ...

in the

and the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

and 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 sea ...

in the

NRL 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 ...

Background

Tanginoa was born in

Auburn, New South Wales, Australia Auburn is a Western Sydney suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Auburn is located west of the Sydney central business district and is in the Local government in Australia, local government area of Cumberland Council, New South Wale ...

. He played his junior football for the Canley Heights Dragons, CVD Edensor Park Cobras and

Cabramatta Two Blues Cabramatta Two Blues, colloquially known as ''Cabra'', is an Australian rugby league football club that was originally formed in 1919 and then later completely formed as the Two Blues in 1939. They have always based from the Parramatta Junior Le ...

before being signed by the

, playing for their

Harold Matthews Cup The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 17. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up ...

SG Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID ...

and

NYC New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive wit ...

teams. He attended Westfields Sport High School where he represented the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

in 2012. In 2010, Tanginoa represented the New South Wales under-16s side and in 2012 represented the New South Wales under-18s.

Playing career

2013

In round 2 of the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixt ...

, Tanginoa made his

debut for the Eels against the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

. In April, Tanginoa played for the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Under 20s team. He played 9 games for Parramatta in his rookie year before succumbing to a fractured hand and then a stress fracture in his right foot. Parramatta would finish the

in last place on the table for the second consecutive year. In July 2013, Tanginoa re-signed with the Parramatta club on a two-year contract. Kelepi Tanginoa

2014

On 29 August 2014, Tanginoa was released from his Parramatta contract, signing a two-year contract with

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

, starting in 2015.

2015

In round 2 of the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followe ...

, Tanginoa made his debut for North Queensland, coming off the bench in the side's 14–16 loss to the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

. On 27 September 2015, Tanginoa played in the

Townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

Intrust Super Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fif ...

Grand Final loss to the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

. Tanginoa was a member of the Cowboys' 2015 Premiership winning squad, though he did not take part in the Grand Final.

2016

On 21 October 2015, Tanginoa signed a one-year contract to return to the

, after being released from the final year of his Cowboys contract. He would spend the season playing for the

Wentworthville Magpies The Wentworthville Magpies, colloquially known as ''Wenty'', are an Australian rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Greater Western Sydney, Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in vari ...

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 ...

2017

Tanginoa spent the first half of 2017 with Wentworthville before Parramatta released him from his contract. He then signed to play for the

2018

Tanginoa made 12 appearances for Manly in 2018 as the club avoided the wooden spoon by just 2 competition points.

2019

Tanginoa joined

side

for the

Super League XXIV Super League XXIV, known as the Betfred Super League XXIV for sponsorship reasons, was the 2019 iteration of and the 24th season of the Super League and 125th season of rugby league in Great Britain. Twelve teams competed over 29 rounds, incl ...

season. He played 14 games for the club as they finished 9th on the table.

2020

Tanginoa at the end of the 2020 season, signed a new contract that would keep him at

until the end of the 2024 season.

2021

On 25 June 2021 he played for the Combined Nations All Stars in their 26–24 victory over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, staged at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, two g ...

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, as part of England's

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

preparation.

2022 & 2023

Tanginoa played 22 games for Wakefield Trinity in the 2022 Super League season which saw the side finish 10th. He was limited to only seven matches with Wakefield Trinity in the

Super League XXVIII Super League XXVIII, known as the 2023 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the Super League and 129th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The season began on 16 February 2023, and ended with the Grand Final ...

season as the club finished bottom of the table and were relegated to the

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...

which ended their 24-year stay in the top flight. After leaving Wakefield Trinity, he moved across the M62 to the city of

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

to join up with former team mates Corey Hall, James Batchelor,

Yusuf Aydin Yusuf Aydin (born 13 September 2000) is a Turkish international rugby league footballer who plays as a for Hull FC in the Super League. He has previous spent time on loan from Leeds at Wakefield Trinity in the Super League. Background Aydin ...

, Jai Whitbread and

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (184 ...

ahead of the 2024 Super League season.

2024

Tanginoa made his club debut for Hull Kingston Rovers against arch-rivals

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...

in round 1 of the 2024 Super League season. Tanginoa scored a try on debut as Hull Kingston Rovers won the derby 22-0. On 12 October 2024, Tanginoa played in Hull Kingston Rovers

2024 Super League Grand Final The 2024 Super League Grand Final, Naming rights, named the 2024 Betfred Super League Grand Final for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th official Super League Grand Final and the championship-deciding rugby league game of the 2024 Super League se ...

loss against Wigan.

2025

On 7 June, he played in Hull Kingston Rovers 8-6 Challenge Cup final victory over Warrington. It was the clubs first major trophy in 40 years.

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2024 season''

References

External links

Wakefield Trinity profileSL profileManly Sea Eagles profileNRL profileHull KR profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanginoa, Kelepi 1994 births Living people 21st-century Australian sportsmen Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople of Tongan descent Cabramatta Two Blues players Combined Nationalities rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players Junior Kangaroos players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players North Queensland Cowboys players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auburn, New South Wales Rugby league second-rows Townsville Blackhawks players Wakefield Trinity players Wentworthville Magpies players