Olivier Elima (born 19 May 1983) is a French former 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 was most recently head coach for the

Palau Broncos Palau XIII Broncos also known as Palau XIII or Palau Broncos are a professional rugby league team based in Palau-del-Vidre in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie region in the south of France. They currently play in the Elite 2 (rug ...

in the French

Elite One Championship Super XIII is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions ...

. A France international representative forward, he played previously for the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 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 and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby le ...

and the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

Background

Elima was born in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Playing career

Elima has previously played in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

during the earlier part of his career. The French forward had an excellent season with the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in 2006. Elima plays in the , he has also featured at , and . Elima was named in the France training 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 ...

. Elima had been named in the France squad for the

. Elima captained France in the

2009 Four Nations The 2009 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (officially known as the Gillette Four Nations due to sponsorship) was the first Rugby League Four Nations since its expansion from the Tri-Nations tournament. Played in England and France over three ...

tournament, scoring his team's only try in their match against Australia. Elima captained

in the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams. It took place between the 26 October and 30 November and was hosted by England and Wales (although some games were played in France and Ire ...

Tournament.

Bradford Bulls

Elima confirmed his switch to the Bradford Bulls and signed a two-year contract with the club in September 2010. Statistics do NOT include pre-season friendlies. 2011 – 2011 Season Elima appeared in two of the three pre-season games. He played against

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

and

. Elima featured in eight consecutive games from Round 1

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

until Round 8 Harlequins RL. He then appeared in Round 10 against the Salford City Reds to Round 13

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 ...

. Elima then featured in thirteen consecutive games from Round 15 against Salford to Round 27 against the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. He also appeared in the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

game against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. 2012 – 2012 Season Elima missed all the pre-season games due to a knee injury. Elima missed Rounds 1–6 due to an injury. He returned in round 7 to face St. Helens. He was suspended for Round 8. He featured in eleven consecutive games from Round 9 Hull F.C. to Round 19 against Wigan. Elima also featured in Round 21 against Leeds. He was injured for Rounds 22–25. Elima featured in Round 26 Hull F.C. and Round 27 against the Catalans Dragons. He also featured in the

against

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 ...

and Warrington. It was later announced that Elima had signed a two-year deal with former club the

Coaching career

Palau XIII Broncos

He was appointed coach of

in 2017. On 23 December 2020 it was reported that he had been sacked by

Palau XIII Broncos Palau XIII Broncos also known as Palau XIII or Palau Broncos are a professional rugby league team based in Palau-del-Vidre in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie region in the south of France. They currently play in the Elite 2 (rug ...

after their poor start to the

season

References

External links

Olivier Elima Official Website

Super League profile

Elima pledges future to Wildcats

Job's a good 'un!

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elima, Oliver 1983 births Living people Bradford Bulls players Castleford Tigers players Catalans Dragons players France national rugby league team captains France national rugby league team players French rugby league players Palau Broncos coaches Palau Broncos players Rugby league players from Pays de la Loire Rugby league second-rows Sportspeople from Nantes Wakefield Trinity players 21st-century French sportsmen