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Sam Mataora (born 20 October 1990) is a Cook Island professional rugby league footballer. He played for the Canberra Raiders and Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League. His positions were prop and second-row.
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| Born | 20 October 1990 Rarotonga, Cook Islands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 111 kg (17 st 7 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop, Second-row | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1] As of 19 October 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Mataora moved to Brisbane, Australia when he was 11 years old and played his junior football for Souths Sunnybank while attending Cavendish State High School.[2] He was then signed by the Canberra Raiders.[3]
Early career
In 2009 and 2010, Mataora played for the Canberra Raiders' NYC team.[4] In 2009, he played for the Cook Islands in the 2009 Pacific Cup.
2010
In Round 8 of the 2010 NRL season, Mataora made his NRL debut for the Raiders against the New Zealand Warriors.[5] He played for the Junior Kiwis that year[6] and was named at second-row in the 2010 NYC Team of the Year.
2011
In 2011, Mataora was selected in the Cook Islands 18-man squad to face New Zealand at the end of the year, although the NZRL called off the match due to players being unavailable.[7]
2012
In June 2012, Mataora re-signed with the Raiders on a 2-year contract.[8][9]
2013
In 2013, Mataora played for the Cook Islands in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.
2014
In July 2014, Mataora joined the Newcastle Knights mid-season for the remainder of the year.[10] On 1 November 2014, he re-signed with the Knights on a 3-year contract.[11][12]
2015
In Round 12 of the 2015 NRL season, Mataora made his Knights debut against the New Zealand Warriors.[13] On 27 September, he played in the Knights' 2015 New South Wales Cup Grand Final victory over the Wyong Roos.[14][15] On 17 October, he played for the Cook Islands against Tonga in their Asia-Pacific Qualifier match for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup[16]
2016
Mataora experience a breakout year in 2016, playing in 20 matches for the Knights and scoring 2 tries.[17]
2017
Due to injuries and fitness, Mataora only played 1 match for the Knights NRL side in 2017.[18] He retired from the game in July after struggling to cope with depression.[19][20]
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