Tevita Tatola

Junior Tatola

Personal information
Full name	Tevita Junior Tatola
Born	(1996-11-10) 10 November 1996 (age 28) Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	114 kg (17 st 13 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2018– South Sydney 140 9 0 0 36 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2018–22 Tonga 6 1 0 0 4
Source: [1] As of 13 April 2024

Tevita Junior Tatola[2] (born 10 November 1996) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.

Background

Tatola was born in Auburn, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Tongan descent.[3]

He played his junior rugby league for the Berala Bears and Holy Cross Rhinos, before being signed by the Wests Tigers.

Playing career

Early career

From 2015 to 2016, Tatola played for the Wests Tigers' NYC team,[4] co-captaining the side in 2016.[5] On 7 May 2016, he played for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis.[6] In 2017, he graduated to the Tigers' Intrust Super Premiership NSW team.[7] In December 2017, he signed a one-year contract with South Sydney starting in 2018.[8]

2018

In round 1 of the 2018 NRL season, Tatola made his NRL debut for South Sydney against the New Zealand Warriors. In September, he re-signed with the South Sydney Rabbitohs on a one-year deal till the end of 2019.[9]

2019

Tatola was part of the Souths side which started the 2019 NRL season with ten wins and three losses. Tatola scored his first NRL try for Souths against Parramatta in their 14-26 loss at Bankwest Stadium.

Tatola played in every match of the 2019 NRL season as Souths finished third on the table and qualified for the finals. Tatola played in the club's preliminary final defeat against the Canberra Raiders at Canberra Stadium.[10][11][12][13]

Tatola with Tonga at the 2021 RLWC

2020

In round 15 of the 2020 NRL season, he scored his first try of the season as South Sydney defeated Manly-Warringah 56-16 at ANZ Stadium.[14]

In the 2020 elimination final, he scored two tries in South Sydney's 46-20 victory over Newcastle at ANZ Stadium.[15]

Tatola played 21 games for South Sydney throughout the year as the club reached their third straight preliminary final but once again fell short of a grand final appearance losing to Penrith 20-16.[16]

2021

Tatola played a total of 21 games for South Sydney in the 2021 NRL season including the club's 2021 NRL Grand Final defeat against Penrith.[17]

2022

In the first week of the finals series, Tatola was sent to the sin bin during South Sydney's upset 30-14 victory over arch-rivals the Sydney Roosters.[18]

Tatola played 26 games for South Sydney in the 2022 NRL season including all three of the clubs finals matches as they reached the preliminary final for a fifth straight season. Souths would lose in the preliminary final to eventual premiers Penrith 32-12.[19]

In October, Tatola was awarded with the George Piggins medal after being voted as South Sydney's best player throughout the season.[20]

In October he was named in the Tonga squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.[21]

2023

Tatola played a total of 15 games for Souths in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 9th on the table and missed the finals.[22]

2024

Following South Sydney's round 6 loss against Cronulla, it was announced that Tatola would miss at least 12 weeks with a fractured foot.[23] Tatola was limited to only six games for South Sydney in the 2024 NRL season as the club finished second last on the table.[24]

Statistics

*stats are correct as of round 4 2024 [25]

Year	Team	Games	Tries	Pts
2018	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24
2019		27	2	8
2020		21	3	12
2021		21
2022		26	4	16
2023		15
2024		6
	Totals	140	9	36

References

1. Rugby League Project
2. Tatola, Junior (2 May 2019). "Photo that changed my life". AthletesVoice. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
3. "Father's health battle inspiring rising South Sydney star". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
4. "T". 27 December 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
5. "Making the Leap: Junior Tatola". 19 October 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
6. "Junior Kangaroos team named". 1 May 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
7. "TEAMS - Intrust Super Premiership NSW Round 1". 28 February 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
8. "NRL contracts 2018: Sam Burgess among Rabbitohs signings, Alex Walmsley, Dylan Napa — Market Watch". 5 December 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
9. "Late mail - Rabbitohs v Warriors". 10 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
10. "South Sydney Rabbitohs beat Manly Sea Eagles 34-26 in NRL semi-final". ABC News. 20 September 2019.
11. "Rabbitohs dig deep to eliminate Sea Eagles in finals thriller". NRL. 20 September 2019.
12. "Canberra Raiders end 25-year wait to reach NRL grand final with victory over Rabbitohs". The Guardian. 27 September 2019.
13. "South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett confirms major changes for Sydney Roosters final". Sporting News. 12 September 2019.
14. "South Sydney beats Manly in 56-16 NRL thrashing, Roosters and Canberra record victories". ABC News. 22 August 2020.
15. Howcroft, Jonathan (4 October 2020). "NRL 2020 finals week one: Rabbitohs crush Knights - as it happened". The Guardian.
16. "Penrith Panthers beat South Sydney Rabbitohs 20-16 to set up NRL grand final against Melbourne Storm". ABC News. 17 October 2020.
17. Tedeschi, Nick (3 October 2021). "One of finest NRL grand finals of all time provides cure to difficult season". The Guardian.
18. "SEVEN players binned in historic first after Roosters-Rabbitohs clash explodes". www.foxsports.com.au. 13 September 2022.
19. "Penrith Panthers defeat South Sydney Rabbitohs 32-12 to qualify for third straight NRL grand final". ABC News. 24 September 2022.
20. "NRL 2022: Every club's Player of the Year and award winners". www.sportingnews.com. 5 October 2022.
21. Full list of every squad at the Rugby League World Cup 2021
22. "'Absolute madness': Potential Latrell switch slammed as a 'band aid' for broken Bunnies". www.foxsports.com.au. 5 September 2023.
23. "NRL Casualty Ward: Surgery for Rabbitohs duo; Campbell blow". www.nrl.com.
24. "The Mole's end of season review: What went wrong at the South Sydney Rabbitohs?". www.nine.com.au.
25. "Tevita Tatola".

External links

• South Sydney Rabbitohs profile