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Siosifa Talakai
Siosifa Talakai (born 18 April 1997) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a centre or second-row forward for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played representative football for New South Wales in the State of Origin series and Tonga at international level. He previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League. BackgroundTalakai was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Tongan and Niuean descent.[2] He played his junior rugby league for the Mascot Jets[citation needed], before being signed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Playing careerEarly careerIn 2015 and 2016, Talakai played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs' NYC team.[3][4]  2016On 7 May, Talakai played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos.[5] In round 13 of the 2016 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for South Sydney against the Gold Coast Titans,[6] scoring a try with his first touch.[7] He was contracted to South Sydney until the end of 2016.[8] 2017Talakai was hampered by a knee injury during the 2017 season limiting him to only 8 appearances for the entire season.[9][10][11] 2018Talakai departed Souths mid season in 2018 to sign a contract to join the Penrith Panthers. Talakai was unable to break into the first grade team and spent the remainder of the year playing for Penrith's Intrust Super Premiership NSW side.[12] 2019In 2019, Talakai joined Newtown after being released by Penrith at the end of 2018.[13][14] Talakai played for Newtown in their Canterbury Cup NSW grand final victory over the Wentworthville Magpies at Bankwest Stadium.[15] 2020In round 4 of the 2020 NRL season, Talakai made his debut for Cronulla-Sutherland as they won their first game of the year defeating North Queensland 26-16 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.[16] 2021In round 7 of the 2021 NRL season, Talakai was sin-binned for an illegal shoulder charge in Cronulla's 18-12 loss against Canterbury.[17] On 27 April, Talakai was suspended for four matches in relation to the illegal bum charge.[18] Talakai played 15 games for Cronulla in the 2021 NRL season which saw the club narrowly miss the finals by finishing 9th on the table.[19] 2022The 2022 season for Talakai was his best yet, scoring 7 tries and assisting 9 others in the 21 games he played in that season. Due to injuries in the Cronulla backline, Talakai moved from his typical second row position into the centres. In round 7 of the 2022 NRL season, Talakai scored two tries and assisted 3 others for Cronulla in a man of the match performance which saw the club defeat rivals Manly 34-22 in the Battle of the Beaches game.[20] On 11 June, an arrest warrant was issued for Talakai after he failed to appear in court for driving with an expired licence. It was alleged that Talakai had been stopped by police on Captain Cook Drive at Caringbah where it was discovered he had an expired drivers licence. The media approached the Cronulla club for comment but they stated they were unaware of the incident. The arrest warrant for Talakai was later revoked and the court date was moved for the 23 June.[21] On 19 June, Talakai was selected by New South Wales for game two of the 2022 State of Origin series.[22] Talakai played off the bench for New South Wales in their 44-12 victory over Queensland.[23] In Game 3 of the series, Talakai made 2 errors which proved to be costly in New South Wales 22-12 defeat to Queensland at Lang Park.[24]  Talakai played 21 games for Cronulla in the 2022 NRL season as they surprised many by finishing second on the table. Talakai played in Cronulla's qualifying final loss to North Queensland in which he scored a try. Talakai did not feature in Cronulla's 38-12 elimination final loss to South Sydney which ended their season.[25] 2023In round 4 of the 2023 NRL season, Talakai kicked the first goal of his career in Cronulla's 40-8 victory over rivals St. George Illawarra.[26] In round 19, Talakai scored two tries for Cronulla in their 36-12 victory over the Wests Tigers.[27] Talakai played a total of 25 games for Cronulla in the 2023 NRL season as Cronulla finished sixth on the table. Talakai played in the clubs 13-12 upset loss against the Sydney Roosters which ended their season.[28] 2024From round 4 of the 2024 NRL season, having started his last 43 games at centre, Talakai made a positional change to the forwards due to injuries suffered by other Cronulla players. Replaced at centre by Kayal Iro, Talakai mostly played as an interchange forward, but also started 6 games (as of round 25) at his old position of second-row.[29] Talakai played 24 games for Cronulla in the 2024 NRL season as the club finished 4th on the table and qualified for the finals.[30] StatisticsNRL
State of Origin
International
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Siosifa Talakai. |
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