Wairangi Koopu

Wairangi Koopu

Personal information
Full name	Dane Wairangi Manurea Koopu[1]
Born	(1980-04-02) 2 April 1980 Opotiki, New Zealand
Playing information
Height	187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Position	Second-row, Centre
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1999–2008	Auckland Warriors	159	34	0	0	136
2009	Melbourne Storm	12	1	0	0	4
	Total	171	35	0	0	140
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1999–2008	New Zealand Māori	5	1	0	0	4
2004–2005	New Zealand	3	0	0	0	0
Source: NRL Stats RLP

Wairangi Koopu (born 2 April 1980 in Opotiki, New Zealand) is a professional rugby league player for the Pt Chev Pirates in New Zealand. Koopu primarily plays in the second row, although he also can play in the centres.

Early years

Before joining the New Zealand Warriors, Koopu played for the Taniwharau Rugby League club in Huntly.^[2] In 1998 he also represented the Waikato Cougars, played for the Junior Kiwis and was named in the National Māori tournament team after representing Waikato Māori.^[3]

Koopu is fluent in Te Reo Maori and often appears on Māori Television.^[4] He is a part of the iwi Te whanau a apanui.^{[citation needed]}

During the early part of 1999, while on contract with the Warriors, Koopu played for the Glenora Bears and represented Auckland North.^[5]

Playing career

Warriors

Koopu made his first grade debut for the Auckland Warriors in Round 6, 1999. He went on to play for the club 159 times, earning the nickname "Mr Consistency" while clocking up over 50 consecutive games for the club before being sidelined by injury.^[6]

Koopu played for the New Zealand Warriors from the interchange bench in their 2002 NRL Grand Final loss to the Sydney Roosters.

Koopu seriously injured his shoulder in 2006 and never fully regained his consistency with the Warriors.^[7] As a result, after ten years with the Warriors, Koopu was released by the club at the end of the 2008 season.

Melbourne

After being released by the Warriors, Koopu considered a switch to rugby union and trained with the Auckland Rugby Union team, but he eventually accepted a one year contract with the Melbourne Storm for the 2009 season.^[4][7][8][9] The Storm team won the Premiership that year.

Representative career

Koopu played for the New Zealand Māori in 1999 and at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup but it was not until 2004 that he made his debut for the New Zealand Kiwis.^[10] In 2008 Koopu again played for the New Zealand Māori in two games, including a match against an Indigenous Dreamtime side.

Later years

In 2010 Koopu played alongside Stacey Jones and Awen Guttenbeil for the Pt Chev Pirates in Auckland Rugby Leagues Phelan Shield. He remained with the club in 2011 when they competed in the Fox Memorial qualifying round.

Identity Theft

In 2010 an internet fraudster posed as Koopu and contacted the AMNRL's David Niu, organising for him to play in the AMNRL with the Northern Raiders.^[11][12][13]

References

v t e Aotearoa Māori squad – 2000 Rugby League World Cup  Nikau (c)  Chan  Cookthcote  Goodwin  Hermansson  Hoppe  Kidwell  Kohe-Love  Koopu  Leuluai  Manuel  Moana  Mills  Nahi  Nelson  Ngamu  Perenara  Rauhihi  Reihana  J. Smith  T. Smith  Toopi  Whatuira  Te Rangi Coach: Bell

Persondata
Name	Koopu, Wairangi
Alternative names
Short description	New Zealand rugby league player
Date of birth	2 April 1980
Place of birth	Opotiki
Date of death
Place of death