David Tangata-Toa

David Tangata-Toa (born 15 July 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and current assistant coach for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League (NRL). Primarily a prop, he played for the Hull Kingston Rovers and Celtic Crusaders in the Super League.

David Tangata-Toa
Personal information
Born (1981-07-15) 15 July 1981
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight114 kg (17 st 13 lb)
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2005–07 Hull Kingston Rovers 22 4 0 0 16
2008–09 Celtic Crusaders 21 5 0 0 20
Total 43 9 0 0 36
Source: [1]

Background

Born on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Tangata-Toa played junior rugby league for the Burleigh Bears and attended Palm Beach Currumbin State High School.

Playing career

A lower grader with the St George Illawarra Dragons and Cronulla Sharks, Tangata-Toa moved to England in 2005, joining the Hull Kingston Rovers in the National League One.[2] In 2006, he played in their National League One Grand Final winning side, helping them earn promotion to the Super League.[3] In 2007, he played 17 Super League games for the club, scoring three tries.

In 2008, Tangata-Toa joined the Celtic Crusaders, scoring a try in their National League One Grand Final loss to the Salford City Reds.[4] In 2009, he played 19 Super League games for the Crusaders, scoring four tries.

Coaching career

In 2011, Tangata-Toa became captain-coach of the Windsor Wolves in the Bundaberg Red Cup.[5] In 2012, he moved up to Windsor's New South Wales Cup side as an assistant coach.

In 2013, Tangata-Toa joined the Penrith Panthers as an assistant coach to their under-20 side. In Round 7, Tangata-Toa replaced Garth Brennan, who moved up to the club's NSW Cup side, as the head coach. [6] Brennan later returned to the role before the finals series began.[7] From 2014 to 2016, he worked as an assistant coach to the Panthers' NSW Cup side. In 2016, he became the assistant coach of the Tongan national team under head coach Kristian Woolf.[8]

In 2017, he once again took charge of Penrith's under-20 side, leading them to the finals.[9]

In 2018, Tangata-Toa became head coach of the Townsville Blackhawks under-20 side, where he led the side to the minor premiership and Grand Final.[10] In 2019, he joined the North Queensland Cowboys as an assistant coach.[11]

On 21 September, Tangata-Toa joined the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs as a transition coach after two years with the Cowboys.[12]

Personal life

Tangata-Toa's older brother, Andrew, is a former professional rugby league player.[8]

References
  1. "David Tangata-Toa". Rugby League Project.
  2. "On This Day: 24.04". Hull Kingston Roverd.
  3. "Rugby League: National League One grand final". The Guardian. 8 October 2006.
  4. "Celtic Crusaders 18-36 Salford". BBC. 28 September 2008.
  5. "NSWRL Bundaberg Red Cup Teams - Round 10". League Unlimited. 11 May 2011.
  6. "Daily Telegraph".
  7. "Cleary backs Brennan as Knights coach". Nrl.com. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  8. Logue, Matt (19 April 2016). "Andrew Johns has selflessly offered his services to help mentor the Tongan national team". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  9. "Updated NYC Teamlist: Round 22". Penrith Panthers. 5 August 2017.
  10. "Blackhawks name U18, U20 coaches". QRL. 5 October 2017.
  11. "Tangata-Toa to join Cowboys coaching staff". North Queensland Cowboys. 27 September 2018.
  12. "Craig Sandercock and David Tangata-Toa to complete Bulldogs coaching line-up for 2021". Canterbury Bulldogs. 21 September 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.