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Timana James Aporo Tahu (born 16 October 1980) is an Australian 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 ...
and
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 ...
footballer. He last played for Denver Stampede in the US
PRO Rugby The Professional Rugby Organization, known as PRO Rugby, was an American professional rugby union competition. PRO began play in April 2016 with five teams and ceased operations by January 2017. The competition was sanctioned by USA Rugby and b ...
competition. A dual-code international representative three-quarter back for Australia's
Kangaroos Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey ...
and then the
Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...
, he could also play and played for
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 ...
in State of Origin. Tahu started his career 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
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 ...
, with whom he won the 2001 NRL Premiership before moving to 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 ...
. He then played for the
New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...
in the
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...
competition. Tahu returned to the NRL with the Eels and then the
Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...
before finishing his NRL career where it started with the Newcastle Knights.


Background

Tahu was born in Melbourne of a New Zealand
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
father and an
Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...
mother, as a result he was eligible for both the
New Zealand Kiwis The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. The team's colours ar ...
and
Australian Kangaroos The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Comm ...
.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' He grew up in St Kilda before moving with his mother to Bourke in western New South Wales at the age of 12. From there he went on to live in towns including
Wilcannia Wilcannia is a small town located within the Central Darling Shire in north western New South Wales, Australia. Located on the Darling River, the town was the third largest inland port in the country during the river boat era of the mid-19th c ...
, Grafton, and
Byron Bay Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah'') is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of New South Wales, Australia (in Bundjalung Country). It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headland adjac ...
. Tahu and his partner Kasey have three children. They met while young; their oldest child was born when he was 18.


Rugby league career


Newcastle Knights (1999–2004)

Tahu made his first grade debut in Round 12, 1999 against South Sydney at the
Sydney Football Stadium Sydney Football Stadium may refer to: * Sydney Football Stadium (1988), the original stadium which was demolished in 2019. * Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Sydney Football Stadium, currently known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons, i ...
. In the 2000 season, Tahu scored 20 tries in 26 games as Newcastle reached the preliminary final against the
Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...
. Tahu scored a try during the match which Newcastle lost 26–20. Tahu played in the Knights 2001 premiership side, scoring a try that cemented the victory as Newcastle defeated Parramatta 30–24. The grand final victory has been described as one of the greatest grand final upsets as Parramatta went into the game as raging hot favourites and had only lost 4 games all season. Tahu scored 82 tries in 97 games during his first spell with the club.


Parramatta Eels (2005-07)

In 2004, Tahu announced that he had signed a 3-year contract to join the Eels. In 2005, Tahu was part of the Parramatta side which won the minor premiership. In round 23, Tahu scored 3 tries in Parramatta's 56–4 win over arch rivals Canterbury where he famously slam dunked the ball over the crossbar after scoring his third try. Parramatta fell short of a grand final appearance that year losing to North Queensland 29–0 in the preliminary final. On 20 March 2007, Tahu announced he would be switching codes to rugby union join the
New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...
in
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...
from the 2008 season. Tahu's contract with Parramatta ended at the end of the
2007 NRL season The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusi ...
after three seasons in the Eels. The contract with the Waratahs was expected to be a four-year deal.


Rugby union career


Waratahs (2008-09)

In 2007, Tahu shocked the NRL when he announced that he had decided to move to rugby union. His contract with the Eels was set to expire at the end of the year, thus the NSW Waratahs attempted to sign him. On 19 December 2007, Tahu agreed to a four-year contract with
Shute Shield The Shute Shield, currently known as the Charter Hall Shute Shield, is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team fro ...
club, West Harbour. He joined fellow League convert Lote Tuqiri at the club. In Tahu's final game in the NRL, he was put on report for a head slam on
Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...
player
Israel Folau Israel ‘Isileli Folau (; born 3 April 1989) is a professional dual-code rugby player who plays as a fullback for Japan Rugby League One club Urayasu D-Rocks. Born in Australia, he represents Tonga at international level after qualifying ...
. He received a two-match suspension, and although his rugby league career was over this suspension still carried across into rugby union. On 26 January 2008, Tahu played his first game of rugby union. The game was a trial match between the NSW Waratahs and the
Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team based in Brisbane for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union ...
, which the Waratahs won 26–10. Tahu made his debut performance in the Super 14 competition in the Waratahs clash with the
Wellington Hurricanes The Hurricanes ( ; ; formerly the Wellington Hurricanes) is a New Zealand professional men's rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East ...
on 16 February 2008.


Wallabies and Australia A

During the 2008
Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Canada, Japan and the United States. First held in 2006, the tournament is intended to strengthen the Tier 2 rugby teams by providing competitiv ...
, Tahu repeatedly performed for Australia A, playing at both wing and inside centre. His performance against Tonga at North Sydney Oval, in front of new Wallabies coach
Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans prev ...
, in which he played at inside centre, caused him to declare that inside centre is his preferred position. Here he scored a try and made six assists, tearing the opposition defence apart. He also scored the winning try against the Samoans, with a long distance intercept effort. On 6 July Tahu played a pivotal role in the Australian A's final Pacific Nations Cup game against New Zealand Maori, scoring 2 tries. On 7 July 2008, Tahu was named in the 30 man Wallabies squad for the Tri-Nations series. On 26 July, Tahu made his first appearance as a substitute for the Wallabies against New Zealand in the Tri-Nations. Despite only coming on towards the end of the game, Tahu effectively made himself Australia's 46th Dual-International. Tahu earned a further cap against South Africa in Johannesburg in a starting role only for the Wallabies to be defeated 53–8.


Return to rugby league (2010-2014)

On 22 July 2009, it was announced that Tahu would return to league and would rejoin his former club,
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 ...
on a three-year contract in 2010. He ended his career with league when in 2007, he signed a nearly $2 million, four-year contract with the ARU and
NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play ...
. In 2010, Tahu earned a recall to the New South Wales State of Origin team and was involved in a race-related incident with assistant coach
Andrew Johns Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974), also known by the nickname Joey, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is considered one of the greatest rugby league players of all time. Johns ...
. In New South Wales Blues training, Johns reportedly called
Greg Inglis Gregory Paul Inglis (born 15 January 1987), also known by the nickname of "G.I.", is a retired Indigenous Australian professional rugby league footballer, who regularly played as a centre, fullback, five-eighth and wing. From 2011 to 2019, Ing ...
"a black
cunt "Cunt" () is a vulgar word for the vulva in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleas ...
". Tahu withdrew in protest from the New South Wales Origin team. It is believed Johns made the racial slur at a team bonding session. Johns was reported as telling centre Beau Scott he needed to stop Greg Inglis, and made a racial reference to the Maroons Aboriginal star. Tahu's mother is Aboriginal. Tahu ended his season by playing for the New Zealand Māori against
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 ...
. After the tumultuous 2010 season, Tahu requested an extended break from the Eels pre-season training, hoping to return in January 2011. New coach
Stephen Kearney Stephen Peter Kearney (born 11 June 1972) is a New Zealand professional rugby league football coach who until 2020 was the head coach of the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and a former player. A New Zealand national captain and second-row for ...
denied the request and Tahu was released from his contract. After a period where it seemed possible Tahu would not return to the NRL, Tahu was signed by the Penrith Panthers. Tahu played just 7 games for the Panthers in 2011 before a torn pectoral muscle ended his season. Only a week later it was announced Tahu would be returning to his original club, the Newcastle Knights on a 2-year contract starting from 2012. On 6 September 2013, Tahu re-signed with the Knights on a 1-year contract. Tahu's last game was in Round 26 of the
2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...
, where he came off the bench into the centres for an injured Joseph Leilua. He scored two tries.


PRO Rugby (2016)

It was announced in March 2016 that Tahu would play rugby union in the United States in the newly formed
PRO Rugby The Professional Rugby Organization, known as PRO Rugby, was an American professional rugby union competition. PRO began play in April 2016 with five teams and ceased operations by January 2017. The competition was sanctioned by USA Rugby and b ...
competition. On 24 April 2016, he came off the bench and played a role in Denver's game in San Francisco only a few days after he had moved to the United States from Australia.


Achievements

* Scored the most tries in a season for Newcastle Knights for 3 consecutive years: scoring 20 tries in 26 games (2000), 18 in 25 games (2001), 21 in 21 games (2002)


See also

*
List of players who have converted from one football code to another There are many footballers who have converted from one football code to another at a professional or representative level. In some cases, the player may also return to the original code, so the traffic is not merely one way. In some countries, s ...


References


External links


2014 Newcastle Knights profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahu, Timana 1980 births Living people Australia international rugby union players Australia national rugby league team players Australian people of Māori descent Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Denver Stampede players Dual-code rugby internationals Indigenous All Stars players Indigenous Australian rugby union players 21st-century Indigenous Australian people New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players New South Wales Waratahs players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players Newcastle Knights players Parramatta Eels players Penrith Panthers players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Melbourne Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Melbourne Rugby union centres 21st-century Australian sportsmen