Nathaniel Roache is a New Zealand 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 for the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in Cammeray on Sydney's North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The club currently competes in the NSW Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL s ...

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 ...

. He 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

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 ...

in the NRL.

Background

Roache was born in

Auckland, New Zealand 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 ...

and is of Samoan and Irish descent. He attended Edendale Primary School in Sandringham then Balmoral Intermediate before studying at

Mount Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in N ...

. His junior club was

Richmond Rovers The Richmond Rovers Rugby League Club is a rugby league club based in Grey Lynn, New Zealand. The premier team is called the Richmond Bulldogs/Richmond Rovers and compete in Auckland Rugby League's first grade Fox Memorial competition. They have ...

Playing career

Early career

While at Mount Albert he competed in the College Rugby League First XIII competition and the 2013 National Secondary Schools tournament, where he was named in the tournament's merit team. He played for the

New Zealand Residents The New Zealand Residents (also previously known as New Zealand 'A', New Zealand XIII, the Lion Red Cup XIII and currently known as the Bartercard Premiership Selection) are a New Zealand rugby league football representative side that is selected ...

under-18 side in 2013 and 2014. Signed by the

, in 2014 Roache made his Holden Cup debut for the Junior Warriors at five eighth. On 5 October 2014, Roache started at centre for the Junior Warriors in their 2014 Holden Cup

Grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

against the junior

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 ...

in a 34-32 victory. Early in the game he was shifted to hooker in response to an injury and received praise for his performance, which included setting up a try for Tuimoala Lolohea. Nathaniel Roache

Roache played in the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and 2016 NRL Auckland Nines for the Warriors. In 2015 Roache was converted to play at hooker and signed a two-year contract extension with the club.

2016

In Round 1 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, ...

, Roache made his debut for the

against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

, playing off the interchange bench in the Warriors 26-34 loss at

Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Sports Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Leumeah, a suburb in South Western Sydney, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. Formerly known as Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, it is currently the home ground ...

2017

In the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th 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, ...

, Roache made nine appearances as the club finished a disappointing 13th on the table.

2018

Roache made no appearances for New Zealand in the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

as the club qualified for the finals for the first time since 2011.

2019

Roache played six games for the New Zealand Warriors franchise 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

In November 2020, Roache signed a developmental contract with Parramatta for the 2021 season after being released by the New Zealand Warriors.

2021

Roache began the year playing NSW Cup coming off the bench, later starting at hooker. In round 15 2021, Roache made his Parramatta debut 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 ...

at Bankwest Stadium. During the match, Roache injured his knee and was ruled out for an indefinite period.

2022 & 2023

After being released by Parramatta in November, Roache signed a train and replacement contract with Manly-Warringah. Roache made no appearances for Manly 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 ...

. Roache instead played for the clubs feeder side the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles in the NSW Cup making 14 appearances.

2024

On 29 September, Roache played for

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

in their NSW Cup Grand Final loss against Newtown.

References

External links

Parramatta Eels profileNew Zealand Warriors profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roache, Nathaniel 1996 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Junior Kiwis players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand Warriors players North Sydney Bears players Parramatta Eels players People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School Richmond Bulldogs players Rugby league hookers Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Auckland