Zeb Taia

Zeb Taia (born 11 October 1984) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a second-row forward for both New Zealand and the Cook Islands at international level.

Zeb Taia
Personal information
Full nameJohn Zebelon Taia
Born (1984-10-11) 11 October 1984
Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight104 kg (16 st 5 lb)[1]
PositionSecond-row, Lock, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–07 Parramatta Eels 6 2 0 0 8
2007–12 Newcastle Knights 101 12 0 0 48
2013–15 Catalans Dragons 77 36 0 0 144
2016–17 Gold Coast Titans 24 5 0 0 20
2017–20 St Helens 107 23 0 0 92
Total 315 78 0 0 312
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
2012–13 Cook Islands 4 0 0 0 0
2013 Exiles 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3]

He played for the Parramatta Eels, Newcastle Knights and the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL, and the Catalans Dragons and St Helens in the Super League. Taia has also played for the Exiles, and earlier in his career he played as a lock, centre and prop.[2]

Background

Taia was born in Auburn, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Cook Islands descent as his parents are from the island of Penrhyn (Tongareva).[4]

Playing career

He played his junior football for the Enfield Federals and the St Clair Comets before being signed by the Parramatta Eels. He played for the Eels' Premier League reserve-grade team in 2006.[5] In Round 5 of the 2006 NRL season he made his NRL debut for the Eels against the Penrith Panthers.

In 2007, Taia was granted a release from his Eels contract and moved mid-season to the Newcastle Knights. In 2008, Taia established himself as a permanent first-grader with Newcastle.

In the first week of the finals series of 2011, Taia made a comeback from a career threatening neck injury in which he suffered four rounds into the season.

On 16 May 2012, Taia signed a 3-year deal with French Super League club, Catalans Dragons starting in 2013. Taia said about the move, "Whilst my wife and I are looking forward to experiencing life in another country, a beautiful one at that, I am forever indebted to the Knights. Not just for the time I have been here but the support they showed me, particularly last season during a potentially career ending injury."[6]

On 5 August 2015, Taia signed a 2-year contract with the Gold Coast Titans to return to the National Rugby League after three years in France, starting in 2016.[7]

On February 14, 2017, Taia signed for St. Helens in a swap deal taking Joe Greenwood to the Gold Coast Titans. Taia was part of the St Helens side which won both the 2019 League Leaders Shield and the 2019 Super League Grand Final securing the club's 14th championship.[8][9]

He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[10]

He played in the 2019 Super League Grand Final victory over the Salford Red Devils at Old Trafford.[11][12][13]

He played in St Helens 8-4 2020 Super League Grand Final victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull. It was his final game as a player as he announced his retirement following the game.[14]

Representative career

For the 2010 Anzac Test, Taia was selected to debut for the New Zealand national rugby league team at second-row forward in their loss against Australia.[15]

On 16 October 2010, Taia represented the Cook Islands against a NSW Country representative side.[16] In the match Taia captained the side. He made his official international debut for the Cook Islands in 2012 in a match against Lebanon.

Zeb captained 'the Kukis' in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

References
  1. "Catalans Dragons Equipe Saison 2015". Catalans Dragons site officiel. Catalans Dragons S.A.S.P. 2015. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Love Rugby League". Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  4. Alderson, Andrew (15 August 2010). "League: Watch out for Taia if Kiwi coach calls". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  5. Archived 18 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Archived 7 September 2012 at Archive.today
  7. Titans.com.au (5 August 2015). "Taylor and Taia to join Titans | NRL". Zero Tackle. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  8. "St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  9. "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
  10. "St Helens 4-18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  11. "St Helens give Justin Holbrook the perfect send-off with commanding Grand Final victory over Salford". Telegraph. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  12. "St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  13. "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
  14. "Super League Grand Final: Wigan 4-8 St Helens". www.bbc.co.uk.
  15. "Zeb Taia chases black jumper after sidestepping Blues". Newcastle Herald. 16 July 2009. Archived from the original on 11 October 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  16. "From A to Zeb". Cook Islands News. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
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