Sio Siua Taukeiaho

Sio Siua Taukeiaho (born 3 January 1992) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop or loose forward for the Canterbury Bulldogs in the NRL. He plays for Tonga and played for New Zealand at international level.

Sio Siua Taukeiaho
Personal information
Full nameSio Siua Taukei'aho
Born (1992-01-03) 3 January 1992
Auckland, New Zealand
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight108 kg (17 st 0 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp, Lock, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013 New Zealand Warriors 1 0 0 0 0
2014–22 Sydney Roosters 167 13 63 0 178
2023 Catalans Dragons 7 1 0 0 4
2024 Canterbury Bulldogs 0 0 0 0 0
Total 175 14 63 0 182
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015–22 Tonga 15 2 26 0 60
2015 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 7 November 2022

He previously played for the Sydney Roosters and New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL). He won back-to-back NRL premierships with the Roosters in 2018 and 2019.

Background

Taukeiaho was born in Ōtara, South Auckland, New Zealand.[2]

Playing career

Taukeiaho is of Tongan descent and played for the Otara Scorpions in 2010 before being signed by the New Zealand Warriors.[3]

He played in the 2011 Toyota Cup winning Junior Warriors and was named in the Junior Kiwis that year.[4]

He made his first grade debut in round 26 against the St. George Illawarra Dragons on 7 September 2013.[5]

At the end of the 2013 season he requested, and was granted, his release from the Warriors.[6] Taukeiaho would then tweet on 27 September 2013 that he signed with the Roosters for two years.[7]

Taukeiaho came into the 2015 NRL season as the Roosters' replacement for the departed Sonny Bill Williams. Taukeiaho was a surprise inclusion on the interchange to start the 2015 season, his great early form cemented his spot as he went on to play every game of the season, scoring 2 tries.[8]

Taukeiaho played for Tonga against Papua New Guinea in an end of year test match in the PNG while on 2 May 2015 in the Gold Coast, he played for Tonga in their Polynesian Cup clash with Pacific rivals Samoa.[9]

On 30 September 2018, Taukeiaho played in Eastern Suburbs 21–6 victory over Melbourne in the 2018 NRL grand final.[10]

Taukeiaho made a total of 20 appearances for the Sydney Roosters in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished second on the table and qualified for the finals. Taukeiaho played from the bench in the 2019 NRL Grand Final as the Sydney Roosters won their second consecutive premiership defeating Canberra 14–8 at ANZ Stadium.[11][12]

On 2 November 2019, Taukeiaho captained Tonga against Australia as they went on to win 16–12, causing one of the biggest upsets in international rugby league history.[13]

He played a total of 21 games for the Sydney Roosters in the 2021 NRL season including the club's two finals matches. The Sydney Roosters would be eliminated from the second week of the finals losing to Manly 42-6.[14][15] On 14 October 2023, Taukeiaho played in Catalans 2023 Super League Grand Final loss against Wigan.[16]

References
  1. Shawn Dollin and Andrew Ferguson (25 October 2015). "Siosiua Taukeiaho". Rugbyleagueproject.org.
  2. "Rooster Sio Siua Taukeiaho now causing the right kind of trouble for opponents". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  3. "Team - Player Profile". m.thewarriors.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  4. "Junior Kiwis Fielding Huge Line-up". Scoop. 16 October 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  5. "Siosiua Taukeiaho". Roosters. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  6. "Taukeiaho granted early release". Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  7. Taukeiaho, Sio Siua. "SIO SIUA TAUKEIAHO MOVES TO THE ROOSTERS". Twitter. Sio Siua Taukeiaho. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  8. Mark Ashton (31 August 2015). "Young Kiwi attacks Warriors". Sportal. Archived from the original on 2 September 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  9. "Taukeiaho & Langi Named In Tonga Squad". Roosters. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  10. "Roosters run riot to deny NRL grand final repeat for the Storm". TheGuardian.com. 30 September 2018.
  11. "NRL grand final player ratings: Roosters and Raiders hits and misses". SMH. 6 October 2019.
  12. "Sydney Roosters beat Canberra Raiders to win NRL Grand Final". BBC Sport.
  13. "Tonga Invitational v Australia".
  14. "'They don't rate us': How injury toll eased pressure for revitalised Roosters". www.nrl.com. 16 September 2021.
  15. "Manly Sea Eagles hammer Sydney Roosters 42-6 to advance to NRL preliminary finals". ABC News. 17 September 2021.
  16. "Wigan Warriors crowned Super League champions after downing Dragons". www.theguardian.com.
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