Jason Taumalolo

Jason Taumalolo

Taumalolo at Cowboys training.
Personal information
Full name	Vaai Taumalolo[1]
Born	(1993-05-31) 31 May 1993 Auckland, New Zealand
Height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	113 kg (17 st 11 lb)
Playing information
Position	lock, second-row
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2010–	North Queensland	86	17	0	0	68
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2013	Tonga	3	1	0	0	4
2014	New Zealand	4	0	0	0	0
2015	NRL All Stars	1	0	0	0	0
As of 21 June 2015
Source: [2]

Vaai "Jason" Taumalolo (born 31 May 1993) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the North Queensland Cowboys of the National Rugby League. Taumalolo primarily plays at second-row and lock. Taumalolo is a New Zealand and Tonga international and a NRL All Stars representative. He was a member of the Cowboys' 2015 NRL premiership winning side.

Background

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Taumalolo is of Tongan descent. He grew up in Mangere and started playing rugby league at the age of 4 for the Papakura Sea Eagles and attended De La Salle College, Mangere East along with older brother Warner Taumalolo. At age 12, he moved to Townsville after being scouted by the North Queensland Cowboys while playing for a New Zealand under 16's touring team. Taumalolo attended Kirwan State High School and played his junior football for the Kirwan Bears and Townsville Brothers. He earned a scholarship with the Cowboys and would go on to represent the Queensland under 18's and Australian schoolboys at the age of 16.^[3]

Playing career

2010

Taumalolo debuted for the Cowboys NYC team in 2010. In Round 24, against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Taumalolo became the youngest player ever to make his debut for the North Queensland Cowboys, aged 17 years, 2 months and 21 days, when he came off the interchange bench in the Cowboys 22-20 loss at 1300SMILES Stadium.^[4] It was his only appearance for 2010. In October, Taumalolo played for the Junior Kiwis.^[5]

2011

Taumalolo would make his second NRL appearance almost a year later in the 2011 season in Round 24 against the South Sydney Rabbitohs when he came off the interchange bench in the Cowboys 26-24 loss at ANZ Stadium. Taumalolo later starred for the Cowboys in Round 25 against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, coming off the interchange bench for the 3rd time to score 2 crucial tries and making 2 line breaks and 125 metres.^[6] At the end of the season, Taumalolo was awarded the Rugby League Player's Association's Toyota Cup Player of the Year award and was named in the Toyota Cup Team of the Year in the second-row.^[7][8] Taumalolo played in the Cowboys in the NYC grand final against the New Zealand Warriors, scoring a try in the golden point 31-30 loss.^[9] He played in 3 matches and scored 2 tries for the Cowboys in 2011. In October 2011, Taumalolo again played for the Junior Kiwis.^[10]

2012

On 17 February 2012, Taumalolo re-signed with the Cowboys until the end of the 2015 season.^[11] In March 2012, Taumalolo was reported to have declared his allegiance to Queensland and Australia. However, a statement from North Queensland Cowboys indicated that no official decision had been made. Being born and raised in New Zealand and playing most of his junior football in Australia, the two countries were in a tug of war for Taumalolo's services.^[12] On 7 April 2012, New Zealand Rugby League's high performance manager Tony Kemp confirmed that Taumalolo had pledged allegiance to his country of birth, New Zealand.^[13] Taumalolo was named as a reserve in the New Zealand squad for the 2012 ANZAC Test against Australia, but was not selected to play.^[14]

Taumalolo finished the 2012 NRL season with him playing in 17 matches and scoring 5 tries. In October, Taumalolo also played for the Junior Kiwis.^[15][16] He was described as the "next Sonny Bill Williams".^[17]

2013

On 20 April 2013, Taumalolo made international debut for Tonga against Samoa at second-row in the 2013 Pacific Rugby League International at Penrith Stadium.^[18] Taumalolo was a standout in the Intrust Super Cup in the 2013 season, playing for Cowboys feeder club, the Mackay Cutters. Taumalolo went on to win the competition along with his Cutters team mates and dedicated their win to fallen team mate Alex Elisala. He would later go on to star for the club at the backend of the season including the club's semi-final loss to Cronulla. Taumalolo played 14 matches and scored 2 tries for the Cowboys in 2013. In October, He played for Tonga in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup campaign, playing in 2 matches. Taumalolo scored one try against the Cook Islands in Tonga's 22–16 inter-group match win at Leigh Sports Village.^[19]

2014

In February 2014, Taumalolo was selected in the Cowboys tournament winning inaugural 2014 Auckland Nines squad.^[20] 2014 was a stand out season for Taumalolo with him playing 25 matches and scoring 6 tries as the Cowboys finished 5th. Taumalolo made 241 hitups and gained 2889 metres. On 7 October, Taumalolo was selected in the Kiwis final 24 man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series.^[21] He made his test debut for New Zealand against Australia at lock in the Kiwis 30-12 win at Suncorp Stadium.^[22] Taumalolo played at lock in the Kiwis 22-18 Four Nations final win over Australia at Westpac Stadium.^[23] Jason capped off 2014 winning Tonga International Player of the Year Award.

2015

On 27 January 2015, Taumalolo was named in the North Queensland Cowboys 2015 NRL Auckland Nines squad.^[24] On 13 February 2015, Taumalolo was selected at lock for the NRL All Stars in the 2015 Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars match at Cbus Super Stadium. The NRL All Stars lost 20-6 to the Indigenous All Stars.^[25] On 27 February 2015, Taumalolo extended his contract with the Cowboys to the end of the 2017 season, rejecting a $2 Million contract offer from the New Zealand Warriors.^[26] On 28 September 2015, Taumalolo was named at lock in the Dally M Team of the Year.^[27] On 4 October 2015, in the Cowboys Queensland derby 2015 NRL Grand Final match against the Brisbane Broncos, Taumalolo started at lock in the Cowboys historic golden point 17-16 win.^[28][29] Taumalolo was selected in the 23-man New Zealand Test squad for the Baskerville Shield series but later withdrew due to injury.^[30] Taumalolo finished the Cowboys premiership winning 2015 NRL season with him playing in 26 matches and scoring 2 tries.

2016

On 2 February 2016, Taumalolo was named in the Cowboys 2016 Auckland Nines squad.^[31]

Achievements and accolades

Individual

Dally M Lock of the Year: 2015
North Queensland Cowboys Rookie of the Year: 2012
North Queensland Cowboys NYC Player of the Year: 2010, 2011
NYC Team of the Year: 2011
RLPA NYC Player of the Year: 2011

Team

2015 NRL Grand Final: North Queensland Cowboys – Winners

Statistics

NRL

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2015 season ^[32]

International

References

External links

• 2016 North Queensland Cowboys profile