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Sam Mataora

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Sam Mataora
Personal information
Born (1990-10-20) 20 October 1990 (age 34)
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Height190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight111 kg (17 st 7 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010–13 Canberra Raiders 33 2 0 0 8
2015–17 Newcastle Knights 30 2 0 0 8
Total 63 4 0 0 16
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009–19 Cook Islands 8 0 0 0 0
2019 Cook Island 9s 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 19 October 2019

Sam Mataora (born 20 October 1990) is a Cook Island professional rugby league footballer. He played for the Canberra Raiders and Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League. His positions were prop and second-row.

Background

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Born in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Mataora moved to Brisbane, Australia when he was 11 years old and played his junior football for Souths Sunnybank while attending Cavendish State High School.[2] He was then signed by the Canberra Raiders.[3]

Playing career

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Early career

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In 2009 and 2010, Mataora played for the Canberra Raiders' NYC team.[4] In 2009, he played for the Cook Islands in the 2009 Pacific Cup.

2010

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In Round 8 of the 2010 NRL season, Mataora made his NRL debut for the Raiders against the New Zealand Warriors.[5] He played for the Junior Kiwis that year[6] and was named at second-row in the 2010 NYC Team of the Year.

2011

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In 2011, Mataora was selected in the Cook Islands 18-man squad to face New Zealand at the end of the year, although the NZRL called off the match due to players being unavailable.[7]

2012

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In June 2012, Mataora re-signed with the Raiders on a 2-year contract.[8][9]

Mataora playing for the Mount Pritchard Mounties

2013

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In 2013, Mataora played for the Cook Islands in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

2014

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In July 2014, Mataora joined the Newcastle Knights mid-season for the remainder of the year.[10] On 1 November 2014, he re-signed with the Knights on a 3-year contract.[11][12]

2015

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In Round 12 of the 2015 NRL season, Mataora made his Knights debut against the New Zealand Warriors.[13] On 27 September, he played in the Knights' 2015 New South Wales Cup Grand Final victory over the Wyong Roos.[14][15] On 17 October, he played for the Cook Islands against Tonga in their Asia-Pacific Qualifier match for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup[16]

2016

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Mataora experience a breakout year in 2016, playing in 20 matches for the Knights and scoring 2 tries.[17]

2017

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Due to injuries and fitness, Mataora only played 1 match for the Knights NRL side in 2017.[18] He retired from the game in July after struggling to cope with depression.[19][20]

References

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  1. ^ "Sam Mataora - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Queensland Secondary Schools 15 years State Carnival – Redcliffe - QLD SECONDARY SCHOOLS RUGBY LEAGUE - OPENS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS". OURFOOTY. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  3. ^ Keeble, Brett (24 August 2014). "Stone wants to hang on to young prop Sam Mataora | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  4. ^ [1] Archived 5 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "NRL 2010 - Round 8". Rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  6. ^ Nine NYC-winning Warriors named in Jnr Kiwis Archived 30 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine NRL.com (2010-10-06)
  7. ^ Kiwis cancel test against Cook Islands. Stuff.co.nz (2011-09-28). Retrieved on 2012-06-15.
  8. ^ [2] Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Raiders secure young gun Mataora. Sports News First (2012-05-30). Retrieved on 2012-06-15.
  10. ^ "Knights sign Sam Mataora - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Knights sign Mataora and Vaivai - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  12. ^ Keeble, Brett (22 September 2014). "Panthers likely to throw Packer a lifeline | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Late Mail: Warriors v Knights - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  14. ^ "VB NSW Cup Grand Final Team List". NSWRL. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  15. ^ Brett Keeble. "Newcastle Knights extend Clint Newton's career with NSW Cup win over Wyong Roos". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Live stream: Tonga v Cook Islands". NRL.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  18. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  19. ^ "Brown confirms Mataora retirement". Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Newcastle forward Sam Mataora battles depression and faces uncertain future in NRL - NRL". Retrieved 3 August 2017.
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