Crystal Tamarua (born 30 July 1995) is a New Zealand rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL Women's Premiership and Burleigh Bears in the QRL Women's Premiership.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 30 July 1995 Auckland, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 89 kg (14 st 0 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop, Second-row, Halfback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: RLP As of 10 November 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
She is a New Zealand and Cook Islands representative.
Background
editBorn in Auckland, Tamarua played her junior rugby league for the Bay Roskill Vikings. Her sister, Rochelle, is a NZRL referee.[1]
Playing career
editOn 6 May 2017, while playing for the Richmond Roses, Tamarua made her Test debut for New Zealand, starting at second-row in a 4–16 loss to Australia.[2][3]
In November 2017, Tamarua represented the Cook Islands at the 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup.[4]
On 1 August 2018, Tamarua joined the New Zealand Warriors NRL Women's Premiership team.[5] In Round 2 of the 2018 NRL Women's season, she made her debut for the Warriors, starting at prop in a 10–22 loss to the St. George Illawarra Dragons.[6]
In October 2019, she was a member of New Zealand's 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s-winning squad.[7]
In September 2020, Tamarua was one of five New Zealand-based Warriors' players to travel to Australia to play in the 2020 NRL Women's premiership. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the players had to quarantine for 14 days on entering Australia and 14 days on return to New Zealand when the season was completed.[8]
On 20 February 2021, she represented the Māori All Stars in their 24–0 win over the Indigenous All Stars.[9] She joined the Burleigh Bears QRL Women's Premiership team for the 2021 season.[10]
In October 2022 she was selected for the New Zealand squad at the delayed 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup in England.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Farrelly Photos Women in League profile: Crystal Tamarua". Auckland Rugby League. 7 October 2020.
- ^ "Vatuvei to debut for Tonga". NZ Warriors. 2 May 2017.
- ^ "No joy for Kiwi Ferns". NZ Warriors. 6 May 2017.
- ^ "Cook Islands name team for 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup". Rugby League Planet. 10 November 2017.
- ^ "Vodafone Warriors unveil NRL women's premiership squad". NZ Warriors. 1 August 2018.
- ^ "Warriors make changes for Dragons". NZ Warriors. 15 September 2018.
- ^ "World Cup winners for WNRL Nines". NZ Warriors. 10 February 2020.
- ^ "The historical island set to inspire fab five Warriors women". NRL. 13 September 2020.
- ^ "McGregor, Harden to lead talented teams". NRL. 20 February 2021.
- ^ "Burleigh Bears overcome Capras to stay unbeaten". QRL. 25 April 2021.
- ^ Priest, Craig (2 October 2022). "Kiwi Ferns name 24-strong World Cup squad". New Zealand Rugby LeagueZ. Retrieved 14 November 2022.