Tinirau Arona

Tinirau Arona
Arona playing for the Roosters in 2012.
Personal information
Born (1989-05-08) 8 May 1989
Dunedin, New Zealand
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 105 kg (16 st 7 lb)
Playing information
Position Lock, Prop, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–13 Sydney Roosters 36 3 0 0 12
2014–15 Cronulla Sharks 33 3 0 0 12
2016– Wakefield Trinity 29 3 0 0 12
Total 98 9 0 0 36
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–16 Cook Islands 10 1 0 0 4
As of 5 November 2015
Source: Rugby League Project

Tinirau Arona (born 8 May 1989) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the Super League. A Cook Islands international,[1] he plays at lock, prop and second-row and previously played for the Sydney Roosters and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League.

Background

Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Arona is of Cook Islands descent and moved to Sydney, New South Wales as an 11-year-old, playing his junior rugby league for the St Clair Comets, before being signed by the Penrith Panthers.[2] Arona is cousins with Penrith Panthers and Cook Islands representative player Tupou Sopoaga.[3]

Playing career

On 4 October 2006, Arona made his international debut for the Cook Islands national rugby league team as a 17-year-old, playing off the interchange bench and scored the Cook Islands only try in the 46-6 loss to the Samoa national rugby league team.[4] In October 2009, Arona played 2 matches for the Cook Islands national rugby league team in the Pacific Cup.[5] Arona played in the Penrith Panthers NYC team in 2008-2009[6] before moving on to play for the Sydney Roosters NSW Cup team the Newtown Jets in 2010 where Arona was awarded the club's best and fairest and best forward.[7] Earning himself a contract with the Sydney Roosters.

Sydney Roosters

2011

In Round 4 of the 2011 NRL season, Arona made his NRL debut for the Sydney Roosters, playing off the interchange bench in the Roosters 24-6 win against the Wests Tigers at SFS.[8] Arona finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 13 matches for the Sydney Roosters in the 2011 NRL season. On 3 November 2011 The annual RLIF Awards dinner was held at the Tower of London and Arona was named Cook Islands' player of the year.[9]

2012

In Round 9 against the Newcastle Knights at SFS, Arona scored his first NRL career try in the Roosters 24-6 win.[10] Arona finished the 2012 NRL season with him playing in 20 matches and scoring 3 tries (12p) for the Sydney Roosters.

2013

In July 2013, Arona represented the NSW Residents side.[11] Arona finished the 2013 NRL season with him playing in 3 matches for the Sydney Roosters. Arona was part of the Cook Islands national rugby league team that participated in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup playing at lock in all 3 matches for the Cook Islands.[12] On 6 December 2013, Arona signed with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks after getting released from his contract with the Sydney Roosters.[13]

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

2014

In Round 1 of the 2014 NRL season, Arona made his National Rugby League Premiership debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, scoring a try in the Sharks 18-12 loss to the Gold Coast Titans at Remondis Stadium.[14] Arona finished his first year with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the 2014 NRL season with him playing in 21 matches and scoring 3 tries (12p).

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

On 5 November 2015, Arona signed a 1-year contract with Super League side Wakefield Trinity Wildcats starting in 2016.[15]

References

  1. "Tinirau Arona". Newtown Jets. 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
  2. "After Heading East for New Turf Young Rooster has His Hands Full". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  3. "Cronulla Sharks Cousins' Tinirau Arona and Tupou Sopoaga Ready to Take on NRL". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  4. "Samoa vs. Cook Islands". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  5. "Samoa and Cook Islands announce squads - NRL.com". M.nrl.com. 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  6. Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. "Established 1908 - Celebrating 102 years of rugby league tradition". Newtown Jets. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  8. "Roosters Take On the Injury Hit Tigers". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  9. "Slater scoops player award". Sky Sports. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  10. "Pearce Takes Roosters to Top Eight Spot". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  11. "View topic - VB NSW Cup Rep Squad named". The Mighty Bears. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  12. "Rugby League World Cup 2013". Rlwc2013.com. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  13. Arona, Tinirau. "TINIRAU ARONA MOVES TO THE CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS". Zero Tackle. Personal Tweet. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  14. "Paul Gallen Injures Ankle in Titans 18-12 Upset of Sharks". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  15. "Wildcats seal signing of Tinirau Arona | NRL". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.