| Vagana playing for Bradford in 2008 | ||||||
| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joseph Sonny Vagana | |||||
| Nickname | Big Joe | |||||
| Born | 21 January 1975 Auckland, New Zealand |
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| Playing information | ||||||
| Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||
| Weight | 130 kg (20 st 7 lb) | |||||
| Position | Prop | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1992–19?? | Richmond Bulldogs | |||||
| 1994 | North Harbour | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995–2000 | Auckland Warriors | 115 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 2001–2008 | Bradford Bulls | 220 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 68 |
| Total | 351 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 104 | |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1993 | Auckland | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1995 | Samoa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996–2006 | New Zealand | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Source: Rugby League Project | ||||||
Joe Vagana (born 21 January 1975 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. During his career Vagana played for the Auckland Warriors and the Bradford Bulls and also represented both Samoa and New Zealand in international competition. His position of preference was at Prop forward.
Joe is also the cousin of fellow rugby league international Nigel Vagana and the New Zealand netballer Linda Vagana.
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Whilst a student at St Pauls College, Vagana played rugby league for the Richmond Rovers club in the Auckland Rugby League competition. In 1993 he played 9 games for Auckland.[1] He then played for the successful North Harbour Sea Eagles in the 1994 Lion Red Cup.[2]
In 1995 Vagana was signed by the Auckland Warriors as they prepared for their début season in the Australian Rugby League. He made his début for the club on 18 March 1995 in the Warriors second ever premiership match. He went on to play 116 games for the Warriors, leaving the club when Eric Watson bought the franchise, but not the player contracts, in 2000.
Despite competition from other Super League and Australian clubs, Vagana signed for the Bradford Bulls in 2001. He became one part of the Bulls Awesome Foursome a phrase coined by the media, alongside Stuart Fielden, Brian McDermott and Paul Anderson.
A destructive tackler and strong runner with the ability to off load the ball, Vagana rarely missed a game for the Bulls and became one of the most popular players at the club. He also wrote a weekly column for several Bradford newspapers and the Bulls website.
In 2006 Vagana was awarded the Bulls Clubman of the Year Award. He signed a one-year extension on the 18 August 2006 to keep him at the Bulls for the 2007 season.
In June 2007 Vagana signed another one-year contract with Bradford, signalling his intent to play out the 2008 season.
Vagana was sent off for the first time in his Bulls career against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats on 5 August 2007.
In August 2007 he was named in Bradford's team of the Century.
In 2008 whilst playing for Bradford against Wigan Vagana broke his arm attempting to tackle Stuart Fielden.
Vagana retired at the end of the 2008 season after 8 years with the Bulls.[3][4][5]
In 2009 he started coaching the East Coast Bays Barracudas alongside Willie Swann.
Vagana played for the Junior Kiwis for three seasons, between 1992 and 1994.
In 1995 Joe represented Western Samoa in the World Cup
Vagana also played 25 times for the New Zealand Kiwis, including playing in the 2000 World Cup. After a long absence he was called up by New Zealand for their game against Great Britain in 2006 but did not play in the match.
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