Junior Moors

Junior Moors (born 30 July 1986) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a prop, second-row, loose forward for Featherstone Rovers in the RFL Championship.

Junior Moors
Personal information
Born (1986-07-30) 30 July 1986
Auckland, New Zealand
Height190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight117 kg (18 st 6 lb)[1]
Playing information
PositionSecond-row, Lock, Prop
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–09 Penrith Panthers 24 1 0 0 4
2010–12 Wests Tigers 25 0 0 0 0
2013–14 Melbourne Storm 21 0 0 0 0
2015–20 Castleford Tigers 109 18 0 0 72
2021– Featherstone Rovers
Total 179 19 0 0 76
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013 Samoa 3 1 0 0 4
As of 21 January 2021
Source: [2][3]

He previously played for the Penrith Panthers, Wests Tigers and the Melbourne Storm in the NRL.

Background

Moors was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and moved to Australia and was educated at Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown.

Moors played his junior football for Cambridge Park RLFC before being signed by the Penrith Panthers. He played for the Panthers' Premier League reserve-grade team in 2006.[4]

Club career

Penrith Panthers

In Round 1 of the 2007 NRL season he made his NRL debut for the Panthers against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

In a 2009 pre-season trial, Moors suffered a broken ankle which stopped him from playing first-grade that season.

Wests Tigers

In September 2009, Moors signed a 1-year contract with the Wests Tigers starting in 2010, with the Tigers having an option to extend his contract for a further season.[5]

Moors became a regular interchange player in the second half of 2012, making 14 appearances for the year. He said, "It’s something I have struggled with over the last couple of years, keeping my weight down but it’s been good this year. I’m starting to feel more comfortable in the team now."[6] Statistically, Moors was revealed to be one of the most effective tacklers in the NRL in 2012, with a 94.1% success rate in tackles.[7] He was also a member of the Balmain Ryde Eastwood Tigers side that lost the NSW Cup grand final.[8]

Melbourne Storm

On 13 September 2012, Moors signed a 1-year contract with Melbourne Storm starting in 2013.[9]

His first game was interchange for Storm's 2013 World Club Challenge win over Leeds Rhinos.

Castleford Tigers

On 11 June 2014, it was confirmed that Junior Moors had signed a three-year contract to play for the Super League club the Castleford Tigers from 2015.[10] Castleford head coach Daryl Powell said of the signing: "I think his style is going to be really well-suited to the Super League and he'll be a real threat."[11]

Moors was given squad number 16 ahead of his first season with the Tigers. Moors made his Super League début against the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the first round, on 8 February 2015.[12] He scored his first try for the club against the Warrington Wolves in round 23, on 26 July.[13] He finished the year having made 25 appearances and scored 4 tries.[14]

For 2016, Moors was assigned shirt number 17. He suffered a broken hand in March, missing 8 games, although returned earlier than expected - Daryl Powell described his post-injury form as "outstanding", and called him "a tough character".[15] His "irrepressible" performance in Castleford's 52-12 victory over West Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos saw him voted as the Fans' Man of the Match.[16] His outstanding personal year saw him dominate the club's end-of-season awards, being recognised as the Fans' Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year, and 1st Place Player of the Year.[17] In October, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Tigers until the end of 2019.[18] "He had an enormous 2016, being one of the best forwards in Super League," said Daryl Powell.[18]

Moors was utilised as an impact player for the 2017 season, making the vast majority of his appearances as an interchange.[14] In June, he sustained a knee ligament injury which kept him out for 8 games.[19] He continued his impressive performances, and greatly contributed towards the Tigers 1st-placed finish in Super League. Resultantly, in August he signed a further one-year contract extension, keeping him at Castleford until the end of 2020.[20] Daryl Powell said, "Junior Moors is a high-quality player who has continued to get better during his time at the club."[20] He played in the 2017 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[21][22][23]

Following the retirement of Andy Lynch, Moors was given squad number 8 for 2018.[24] This, however, didn't reflect any change in his role on the pitch, as he remained a key impact substitute.[14] He largely avoided any long-term injuries and made 25 appearances this year. He also scored 8 tries, including his first brace against the Huddersfield Giants on 13 September - this made the 2018 season his highest-scoring campaign yet.[14]

Moors' 2019 season was severely limited by serious injuries - he sustained a knee injury in April, keeping him out for 2 months, before suffering a season-ending hip fracture in just his second game back.[25][26] He made 13 appearances and scored 3 tries.[14]

    In November 2020, Castleford coach Daryl Powell confirmed the departure of Moors[27]

    Featherstone Rovers

    On 20 Jan 2021 it was reported that he had signed for Featherstone Rovers in the RFL Championship[28]

    International career

    While attending Patrician Brothers' College Blacktown, Moors played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 2004.[29]

    In 2013, Junior was selected for the Samoa national rugby league team in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. He played in 3 of the Samoans 4 tournament games, scoring one try against the French in the group stage.

    Statistics
    Season Team App T G FG Pts
    2007 Penrith Panthers 15 1 0 0 4
    2008 Penrith Panthers 9 0 0 0 0
    2009 Penrith Panthers 0 0 0 0 0
    2010 Wests Tigers 11 0 0 0 0
    2011 Wests Tigers 0 0 0 0 0
    2012 Wests Tigers 14 0 0 0 0
    2013 Melbourne Storm 11 0 0 0 0
    2014 Melbourne Storm 10 0 0 0 0
    2015 Castleford Tigers 25 4 0 0 16
    2016 Castleford Tigers 22 1 0 0 4
    2017 Castleford Tigers 23 2 0 0 8
    2018 Castleford Tigers 25 8 0 0 32
    2019 Castleford Tigers 13 3 0 0 12
    2020* Castleford Tigers 1 0 0 0 0
    Totals 179 19 0 0 76

    (* denotes season still competing)

    References
    1. "Castleford Tigers 1st Team Junior Moors". Official Castleford Tigers web site. Castleford Tigers Rugby League Football Club Ltd. 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
    2. Rugby League Project
    3. Love Rugby League
    4. http://www.rleague.com//db/player/m/moors_junior/index.php
    5. Todd Balym (23 September 2009). "Daine Laurie a Panther, Tigers on signing spree". Daily Telegraph (Australia). Retrieved 24 September 2009.
    6. Nathan Ryan (13 August 2012). "Tigers cub stalking new deal". Sports News First. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
    7. "Revealed: the NRL's forward defensive heroes". NRL.com. 28 June 2012. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
    8. Wayne Cousins (30 September 2012). "Tigers go down fighting to Jets in NSW Cup Grand Final". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
    9. "Storm builds strong front". Melbourne Storm official website. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
    10. "Tigers Sign Samoan International Junior Moors". Castleford Tigers. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    11. "Castleford Tigers sign Melbourne Storm forward Junior Moors". BBC Sport. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    12. "Super League: Castleford Tigers 22-24 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats". BBC Sport. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    13. Newsum, Matt (26 July 2015). "Super League: Castleford Tigers 6-44 Warrington Wolves". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    14. "Junior Moors - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    15. "Castleford's Junior Moors defied medical advice to inspire big win at Leeds". GiveMeSport. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    16. "Leeds Rhinos 12 Castleford Tigers 52 - Luke Dorn dominates as Cas crush sorry Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    17. "Moors scoops hat-trick of player of the year awards". Pontefract & Castleford Express. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    18. "Junior Moors: Castleford Tigers forward signs new contract". BBC Sport. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    19. "Injury Update". Castleford Tigers. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    20. "Junior Moors signs Castleford extension". www.rugby-league.com. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    21. "Castleford 6-24 Leeds: Grand Final 2017 – as it happened". Guardian. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
    22. "Grand Final 2017: Castleford 6-24 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
    23. "Danny McGuire guides Leeds to Grand Final success over Castleford". Guardian. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
    24. "2018 Squad Numbers". Castleford Tigers. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    25. Harber, Tony (25 June 2019). "Castleford Tigers star Junior Moors suffers fractured hip in Salford game". Pontefract & Castleford Express. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    26. "First Team Injury Update". Castleford Tigers. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    27. "Castleford confirm departure of Junior Moors". www.loverugbyleague.com. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
    28. "Featherstone snap up Junior Moors". Love Rugby League. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
    29. "SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". SportingPulse. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
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