Sonny Whakarau
| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 1965/1966 (age 50–51) | |||||
| Playing information | ||||||
| Position | Hooker, Prop, Second-row | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 19??–1985 | Unknown (MRL) | |||||
| Upper Hutt | ||||||
| 1990–1991 | Batley | |||||
| 1991–1992 | Bramley | |||||
| 1994–1995 | Doncaster | |||||
| 1995–1996 | Sheffield Eagles | |||||
| 1996 | Keighley Cougars | |||||
| 1996–1998 | Wakefield Trinity | |||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 19??–1986 | Manawatu | |||||
| 1986–19?? | Wellington | |||||
| 1996–2004 | New Zealand Māori | |||||
| Source: RLP | ||||||
Sonny Whakarau is a former New Zealand rugby league footballer who played professionally in England and represented the New Zealand Māori.
Playing career
A Manawatu representative, Whakarau moved south in 1986, joining the Wellington Rugby League and becoming a Wellington representative.
In the 1994/1995 English season Whakarau joined Doncaster and helped them win promotion to the First Division.[1] Sheffield Eagles in 1995/96 season.[2] He played for the Keighley Cougars in 1996.[3] Later in the season he was loaned to the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.[4]
He played for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in 1998.[5]
Whakarau then returned home and played for the Levin Knights and Manawatu. In 2000 he was appointed player-coach of the Manawatu team but handed the coaching reigns over to former coach Paul Sixtus after one game.[6] He was then appointed the Manawatu Rugby League development officer in 2001.
In 2002 the Central Falcons were admitted to the Bartercard Cup and Whakarau became a regular in the side, playing close to 50 games over the next three seasons until his retirement from representative football at the end of the 2005 season.[7]
In 2004 Whakarau played for the Levin Lions in the Western Alliance club competition.[8]
Representative career
Whakarau represented New Zealand Māori at the 1996 Pacific Cup and then played in their defeated of Papua New Guinea and Great Britain the same year.[3][9]
Whakarau was again selected for the 2004 Pacific Cup squad.[10][11][12]
References
- ↑ 'It was like hearing someone had died' The Independent, 1 January 1995
- ↑ Centenary waits for the revolution The Independent, 18 August 1995
- 1 2 John Coffey, Bernie Wood (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908-2008. Huia Publishers. p. 292. ISBN 9781869693312.
- ↑ Bulls in Wembley charge; Bradford 30, Wakefield 18 The Mirror, 26 February 1996
- ↑ No regrets: Defiant Leigh back decision to move up The Bolton News, 9 March 1998
- ↑ Job comes first The Evening Standard, 28 February 2001
- ↑ Whakarau calls it a day with Central Falcons The Evening Standard, 17 August 2005
- ↑ Western Alliance First Round Review rleague.com, 11 March 2004
- ↑ Morley given immediate chance to atone The Independent, 21 October 1996
- ↑ John Coffey, Bernie Wood (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908-2008. Huia Publishers. p. 330. ISBN 9781869693312.
- ↑ Harding, Evan. "The Northern Advocate". Peter Prime's star keeps rising. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ↑ Pacific Cup tourney to be Whakarau's swansong The Evening Standard, 13 October 2004