Willie Talau

Willie Talau
Talau with Samoa at the 2008 World Cup
Personal information
Full name Viliamu Talau
Born January 25, 1976
Apia, Samoa
Height 5 ft 11.5 in (181.6 cm)
Weight 14 st 10 lb (93 kg)
Playing information
Position Rugby league positions#The three-quarters
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1994–96 Taranaki Rockets
1998–2003 Canterbury Bulldogs 101 38 0 0 152
2003–2008 St Helens 149 65 0 0 260
2009–2010 Salford City 25 4 0 0 16
Total 275 107 0 0 428
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1999–2006 New Zealand 13 9 0 0 36
2007–2008 Samoa 3 0 0 0 0
As of 1 November 2008
Source: RLP

Viliamu (Willie) Talau (born 25 January 1976, in Samoa) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays for English club Salford City Reds of Super League. A Samoa and New Zealand international representative three-quarter back, he has played club football previously in the National Rugby League for the Bulldogs as well as for St Helens.

Playing career

Early years

Talau attended Spotswood College. Talau played for the Taranaki Rockets in the Lion Red Cup. At 21, his father gave him a one-way ticket to Australia to try his luck playing league. While playing in the metropolitan Cup he was spotted by the Canterbury Bulldogs who signed him to play in the National Rugby League. In the 1994 Lion Red Cup Talau played in nine matches, scoring one try. He then played in all 22 matches for the Rockets in the 1995 season.

He played in 101 National Rugby League games for the Bulldogs, scoring 38 tries, including one in the 1998 NRL Grand Final loss to the Broncos. Talau was selected for the New Zealand team to compete in the end of season 1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament. In the final against Australia he played at centre in the Kiwis' 22-20 loss.

St Helens

Talau has 13 New Zealand caps and played for the Kiwis at Old Trafford in the 2000 World Cup Final.

He signed for St. Helens in late 2003, having previously played for Canterbury Bulldogs. He made his Super League debut on 24 August 2003 against Hull.

Talau scored two tries in the 2004 Challenge Cup Final, and participated in St Helens' 2006 treble, scoring in both the 2006 Challenge Cup Final and the 2006 Super League Grand Final. Talau scored 11 tries in 29 games during the 2006 season. As 2006 Super League champions, St Helens faced 2006 NRL Premiers the Brisbane Broncos in the 2007 World Club Challenge. Talau played at centre in the Saints' 18-14 victory.

He played in 2008's Super League XIII Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos.[1]

Salford

Talau joined European Super League side Salford City Reds for the start 2009 season.[2][3]

Representative career

A Junior Kiwis representative, Talau played in 13 games for the New Zealand Kiwis from 1999 to 2006, including the 2000 World Cup.

In 2007 Talau switched allegiances to Samoa. The following year he represented Samoa in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, playing two matches.[4][5]

Legacy

In 2008 he was named in the Taranaki Rugby League Team of the Century.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "2008 Grand Final". BBC. 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  2. ↑ "Salford snap up Talau from Saints". BBC. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  3. ↑ "Reds in Talau swoop". Manchester Evening News. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  4. ↑ "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  5. ↑ "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  6. ↑ "Dream team of century is named". Taranaki Daily News. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2011.