Zeb Taia (born 11 October 1984) is a 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 played as a forward for both

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 ...

and the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

at international level. He played for 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 ...

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 ...

and 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 ...

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

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 ...

and St Helens in the

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 ...

. Taia has also played for the

Exiles Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

, and earlier in his career he played as a and . He also played for Wynum Manly in the 2021 Intrust QLD Cup.

Background

Taia was born in

Auburn, New South Wales Auburn is a Western Sydney suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Auburn is located west of the Sydney central business district and is in the Local government in Australia, local government area of Cumberland Council, New South Wale ...

, Australia. He is of

descent as his parents are from the island of

Penrhyn Penryn is a Cornish word meaning 'headland' that may refer to: *Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom, a town of about 7,000 on the Penryn River ** Penryn railway station, a station on the Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks, and serves the ...

(Tongareva).

Playing career

He played his junior football for the Enfield Federals and the St Clair Comets before being signed by the

. He played for the Eels'

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

reserve-grade team in 2006. In Round 5 of the

2006 NRL season The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Te ...

he made his

debut for the Eels against 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 ...

. In 2007, Taia was granted a release from his Eels contract and moved mid-season to the

. In 2008, Taia established himself as a permanent first-grader with Newcastle. In the first week of the finals series of 2011, Taia made a comeback from a career threatening neck injury in which he suffered four rounds into the season. On 16 May 2012, Taia signed a 3-year deal with French

club,

starting in 2013. Taia said about the move, ''"Whilst my wife and I are looking forward to experiencing life in another country, a beautiful one at that, I am forever indebted to the Knights. Not just for the time I have been here but the support they showed me, particularly last season during a potentially career ending injury."'' On 5 August 2015, Taia signed a 2-year contract with the

to return to 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 ...

after three years in France, starting in 2016. On February 14, 2017, Taia signed for St. Helens in a swap deal taking Joe Greenwood to the

. Taia was part of the St Helens side which won both the 2019 League Leaders Shield and the

2019 Super League Grand Final The 2019 Super League Grand Final was the 22nd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXIV. It was held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 12 October 2019. The final was contested by St. Helens and Salford Red Devils ( ...

securing the club's 14th championship. He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. He played in the

victory over the

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 ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. He played in St Helens 8-4

2020 Super League Grand Final The 2020 Super League Grand Final was the 23rd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXV. The game was won 8–4 by St Helens over their local rivals Wigan Warriors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first S ...

victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull. It was his final game as a player as he announced his retirement following the game.

Representative career

For the

2010 Anzac Test The 2010 ANZAC Test was a rugby league test match played between Australia and New Zealand on 7 May 2010. The match coincided with the official opening of AAMI Park in Melbourne. The match was won by Australia with a score of 12–8. The teams ...

, Taia was selected to debut for the

New Zealand national rugby league team 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 Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

at second-row forward in their loss against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. On 16 October 2010, Taia represented the

against a NSW Country representative side. In the match Taia captained the side. He made his official international debut for the Cook Islands in 2012 in a match against

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Zeb captained 'the Kukis' 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 ...

Statistics

References

External links

St Helens profileSL profileNewcastle Knights profileSaints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taia, Zeb 1984 births Living people 21st-century Australian sportsmen Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Australian expatriate rugby league players in France Australian rugby league players Catalans Dragons players Cook Island expatriate rugby league players Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in England Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in France Cook Island rugby league players Cook Islands national rugby league team captains Cook Islands national rugby league team players Gold Coast Titans players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in France New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent Newcastle Knights players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league centres Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auburn, New South Wales Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Sportsmen from New South Wales St Helens R.F.C. players Wyong Roos players