Misi Taulapapa (born 25 January 1982) 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 or er for

Goole Vikings The Goole Vikings are a semi-professional rugby league club from Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, England who compete in the Yorkshire Men's League in the fifth tier of the British rugby league system. From 2025, following a successful applicat ...

in the

RFL League 1 The Rugby Football League's League One (known as the Betfred League One) is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain. Introduced in 2003 as National League 2 i ...

. He has 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 ...

and the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

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 ...

, and the

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Olympic Legacy Park and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Sheffield's on ...

and

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. Taulapapa has also played for the

Newcastle Thunder The Newcastle Thunder is a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was founded in 2000 as Gateshead Thunder, after the merger of the original Gateshead Thunder into Hull F.C. in 1999. The Thunder were based in ...

in League 1.

Early years

Taulapapa was born

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. He originally played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

for the Waitemata Football club, in the

Auckland Rugby Union The Auckland Rugby Union is a New Zealand provincial rugby union. The union was established in 1883 and was originally responsible for the administration of the sport in most of the former Auckland Province, although its boundaries have since s ...

competition. He played with Waitemata when they won the Gallagher Shield in 2003. Taulapapa also represented the Kelston Boys High School's First XV in both regional and national tournaments.

Playing career

Taulapapa switched to

in 2004. Taulapapa was selected to play in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Ze ...

competition for the Marist Richmond Brothers from where he was picked up by the

. Taulapapa played in six matches for the

in 2006 before he was released mid-season for turning up to a training session intoxicated. After being released by the Warriors halfway through the 2006 season he moved to Queensland to finish the season at the Central Comets.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Taulapapa signed with the

in 2007. Here he played as a solid winger and was a fringe NRL player. Taulapapa made 19 appearances for the club in 2008 as Cronulla finished third on the table. Misi Taulapapa 2008

Taulapapa scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in the 2008 qualifying finals game against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

. two weeks later, Taulapapa played on the wing for Cronulla in their 28-0 preliminary final defeat by Melbourne.

Gateshead Thunder

Taulapapa originally signed with the Gateshead Thunder for the 2010 season. However the club had financial difficulties which voided Taulapapa's contract.

Sheffield Eagles

He eventually signed with the

. After starting on the wing, he moved to full back after a long term injury ruled out the player in that position. He also took on the captaincy and by the end of the season was one of the stand out players for the Eagles, scoring a hat trick in a victory over the

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

. two weeks later, against the same opponents in the play-offs, he suffered a broken leg that ruled him out for the remainder of the 2010 season.

Hull Kingston Rovers

In August 2011 Taulapapa signed to

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 ...

club

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 ...

. However, after his signature had been announced, Hull KR appointed a new manager - Craig Sandercock - who subsequently decided that Taulapapa did not fit into his plans for the 2012 season.

Sheffield Eagles (rejoin)

Taulapapa was released from his contract with Hull KR, without having played a single game, and re-signed for Sheffield, and later signed for

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

). He would move to play for the

for the 2019 season.

Doncaster RLFC

On 9 Nov 2020 it was announced that he had signed for

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

for 2021.

Goole Vikings

On 15 Nov 2024 it was reported that he had signed for

in the

Representative career

Taulapapa was a part of the

squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

. In 2009 he was named as part of the

squad for the

Pacific Cup The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition, inaugurated in 1974, as a development competition for national teams from the Pacific region outside of Australia and New Zealand. The tournament ceased in 2009. In 2019, a similar com ...

.Poching names strong Samoan squad
''therhinos.co.uk'', 6 October 2009

References

External links

Featherstone Rovers profileMisi Taulapapa at ''Sharks.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taulapapa, Misi 1982 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Auckland rugby league team players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Doncaster R.L.F.C. players Featherstone Rovers captains Featherstone Rovers players Goole Vikings players Marist Richmond Brothers players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand Warriors players Newcastle Thunder players Point Chevalier Pirates players Richmond Bulldogs players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby union players from Auckland Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Sheffield Eagles players