Siosifa Talakai

Siosifa Talakai (born 18 April 1997) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row or centre for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL.

Siosifa Talakai
Personal information
Born (1997-04-18) 18 April 1997
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–17 South Sydney 11 2 0 0 8
2020– Cronulla Sharks 39 10 0 0 40
Total 50 12 0 0 48
As of 16 April 2022
Source: [1]

He previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League.

Background

Talakai was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Tongan,New Zealand and Niuean descent.[2]

He played his junior rugby league for the Mascot Jets, before being signed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Playing career

Early career

In 2015 and 2016, Talakai played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs' NYC team.[3][4]

Talakai playing for the North Sydney Bears in 2016

2016

On 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]

2017

Talakai was hampered by a knee injury during the 2017 season limiting him to only 8 appearances for the entire season.[9][10][11]

2018

Talakai 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]

2019

In 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]

2020

In 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]

2021

In 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 shoulder 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]

2022

In round 7 of the 2022 NRL season, Talakai scored two tries 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]

References
  1. "Siosifa Talakai - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  2. "Eligible players". Tonga Rugby League. 20 June 2014. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  3. "T". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  4. Tim Costello and Jeff Dickinson-Fox (15 March 2016). "LeagueUnlimited NYC Teams - 2016 Round 3". League Unlimited. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  5. "Updated: Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  6. "Updated team lists: Rabbitohs v Titans". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  7. "Titans beat Rabbitohs in golden point". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  8. "Home | Live Scores & Latest News". Fox Sports. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  9. "Dailytelegraph.com.au - Subscribe to The Daily Telegraph for exclusive stories". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  10. "Sam Burgess injury, NRL casualty ward round 15, injuries, teams | Daily Telegraph". Archived from the original on 18 June 2017.
  11. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  12. "Panthers Stun Roos to Register Eighth-Straight Win". 11 August 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  13. "Player profile". www.sharks.com.au.
  14. "Canterbury Cup NSW Team Lists Round One". www.nswrl.com.au. 12 March 2019.
  15. "Newtown reign supreme in epic decider". NSWRL. 29 September 2019.
  16. "Cronulla v NQ Round 4". www.foxsports.com.au. 6 June 2020.
  17. "Cowboys beat Raiders 26-24 for third straight NRL win, Bulldogs defeat Sharks 18-12 for maiden victory". ABC News. 24 April 2021.
  18. "Dragons duo cop bans after ugly shots in Roosters loss: Judiciary". www.foxsports.com.au. 27 April 2021.
  19. "Papenhuyzen back to best as Storm secure minor premiership". www.nrl.com. 3 September 2021.
  20. "Cronulla 34 Manly 22". amp.nine.com.au.
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