Steve Rapira (born 17 December 1988) is a New Zealand 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. A second-row forward, he previously played 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 ...

for the

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

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 English club

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...

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 ...

, and is the younger brother of New Zealand international, Sam Rapira.

Background

Rapira played for Hukanui in the

Waikato Rugby League Waikato Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of rugby league in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The WRL are represented by the Waikato rugby league team. They are currently part of the Upper Central Zone al ...

competition and the

Waicoa Bay Stallions The Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions were a rugby league team that represent the Upper Central Zone of the New Zealand Rugby League. The Zone comprises four districts: Waikato, Coastline Rugby League, Bay of Plenty, and Gisborne Tairawhiti Rugby League. The ...

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 ...

. Rapira played for the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Under-16's in 2004 and made 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 ...

in 2005. He became a

junior and playing in their inaugural Toyota Cup team. He played for the Junior Warriors 10 times in 2008 and scored two tries.

Professional playing career

National Rugby League

In 2009 Rapira joined

, playing for the

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in 2007, alongside th ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

. He made his first grade début on 11 April 2010 against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

. He was named the club's rookie of the year in 2009. In 2010 Rapira signed a two-year contract to re-join the New Zealand Warriors for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, with an option on a third year. He made his Warriors début in Round 13 on 4 June 2011. For the 2012 season Rapira has been "re-modelled" as a prop.

Super League

Rapira signed to play in the

for English club the

in 2014.

Queensland Cup

In 2015, Rapira returned to the

in the

.Former Warriors duo join Cutters
''rugbyleagueweek.com.au'', 27 November 2014

References

External links

Steve Rapira
''North Queensland Cowboys'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapira, Steve 1988 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Auckland rugby league team players Junior Kiwis players Mackay Cutters players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players North Queensland Cowboys players Rugby league players from Hamilton, New Zealand Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Salford Red Devils players Waicoa Bay Stallions players Waikato rugby league team players