Jeremiah Nanai

Jeremiah Nanai (born 18 February 2003) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL.

Jeremiah Nanai
Personal information
Born (2003-02-18) 18 February 2003
Henderson, New Zealand
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight104 kg (16 st 5 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2021– North Qld Cowboys 12 7 0 0 28
As of 23 April 2022

Background

Nanai was born in Henderson, New Zealand and raised in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.[1] He is of Samoan descent.[2]

He began playing rugby league at age 13 for the Cairns Kangaroos and attended Trinity Bay State High School, where he was selected for the Australian Schoolboys under-15 merit side in 2018.[3][4]

In 2019, Nanai signed with the North Queensland Cowboys and moved to Townsville, Queensland, where he attended Kirwan State High School.[5]

Playing career

Early career

In July 2019, Nanai represented the Northern Marlins at the QRL Under-16 Junior State Championships.[6] On 18 September 2019, he started at second-row in Kirwan State High School's NRL Schoolboy Cup win over Westfields Sports High School.[7] On 29 September 2019, he represented Queensland Country under-16, scoring a hat trick and being named Man of the Match in their 44–4 win over Queensland City under-16.[8]

In January 2020, Nanai was selected in the Queensland Under-18 Emerging Origin squad.[9] In September 2020, Nanai played for Kirwan in their Queensland state final win over Palm Beach Currumbin State High School, scoring two tries.[10]

On 7 October 2020, Nanai joined North Queensland's NRL squad on a development contract for the 2021 season.[11]

2021

Nanai began the 2021 season playing for the Northern Pride in the Queensland Cup.[12]

In Round 22 of the 2021 NRL season, Nanai made his NRL debut against the Wests Tigers.[13][14]

2022

In round 3 of the 2022 NRL season, Nanai scored a hat-trick for North Queensland against arch rivals Brisbane in a 38-12 victory.[15] In April, Nanai signed a one-year contract extension to remain at North Queensland until the end of 2023.[16] In round 7, Nanai was sent to the sin bin and later scored a try during North Queensland's 30-4 victory over the Gold Coast.[17]

References
  1. "Jeremiah Nanai working to achieve goal of Cowboys debut". Cairns Post. 27 January 2021.
  2. Badel, Peter (25 March 2022). "Young Cowboy poised to boost Maroons' stocks". Townsville Bulletin.
  3. "Queensland team claim 15 Years title". QRL. 6 July 2018.
  4. "Trinity Bay teen Manihi Maurangi breaks Kalyn Ponga's Queensland schoolboys record". Cairns Post. 1 June 2018.
  5. "League giant Jeremiah Nanai is ready to bulldoze his way to the top". Townsville Bulletin. 28 January 2020.
  6. "QRL Junior State Championships team lists". QRL. 3 July 2019.
  7. "2019". 18th Man. 13 December 2018.
  8. "Queensland Under 16 Country too good for City". QRL. 29 September 2019.
  9. "Junior Cowboys take part in u18s Qld Emerging Origin camp". NQ Cowboys. 17 January 2020.
  10. "Schoolboys: Kirwan win Queensland final". 18th Man. 17 September 2020.
  11. "Cowboys promote four young guns to NRL squad for 2021". NQ Cowboys. 7 October 2020.
  12. "Cowboys youngsters named to return from injury in Q-Cup". NQ Cowboys. 6 April 2021.
  13. "Cowboys team list: Round 22 v Tigers". NQ Cowboys. 10 August 2021.
  14. "Manly thumps Parramatta Eels 56-10, as South Sydney and Wests Tigers enjoy NRL wins". ABC News. 14 August 2021.
  15. "Brisbane Broncos 'monstered' by teenage prodigy Jeremiah Nanai". www.news.com.au.
  16. "Cowboys re-sign Jeremiah Nanai". www.cowboys.com.au.
  17. "'What an athlete': Cowboys young gun goes from zero to hero in just 40 seconds". www.foxsports.com.au.
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