Starford To'a

Starford To'a (born 23 June 2000) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger, centre or fullback for the Wests Tigers in the NRL.

Starford To'a
Personal information
Born (2000-06-23) 23 June 2000
Auckland, New Zealand
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight97 kg (15 st 4 lb)
Playing information
PositionWing, Centre, Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2019–21 Newcastle Knights 20 11 0 0 44
2022– Wests Tigers 29 8 0 0 32
Total 49 19 0 0 76
Source: [1]
As of 13 May 2023

He previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League.

Background

To'a was born in Auckland, New Zealand[2] and is of Tongan, Māori and European descent. He attended St Paul's College, Auckland.[3]

Playing career

Early years

In 2018, he moved to Australia to play for the Newcastle Knights, after being scouted by a recruitment manager for the Knights in 2016 at a New Zealand national tournament in Rotorua.[2] He played for the Knights' Jersey Flegg Cup team.[4] At the end of 2018, he played for the Australian Schoolboys and was named man of the match in their first game.[5]Denga fosi’i

2019

In 2019, To'a joined the Knights' NRL squad for pre-season training and played in a first-grade trial match.[6] In June, he re-signed with the Knights on a 2-year contract until the end of 2021.[7] In round 25 of the 2019 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Knights against the Penrith Panthers[8] and scored a try.[9] On 29 September, he will play for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos.[10]

2020

He made seven appearances for Newcastle in the 2020 NRL season and scored four tries. To'a did not feature in the club's first finals campaign since 2013.[11]

2021

In 2021, To'a made 12 appearances for the Knights, scoring 6 tries.[12]

2022

In January 2022, To'a was granted a release from the final two years of his Newcastle contract to join the Wests Tigers on a two-year contract effective immediately.[13] To'a played a total of 21 matches for the Wests Tigers in the 2022 NRL season and scored 3 tries as the club finished bottom of the table and claimed the Wooden Spoon for the first time.[14]

References
  1. "Starford To'a - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  2. "The future: Meet Starford To'a". Newcastle Knights. 7 November 2018.
  3. "The future: Meet Starford To'a". Newcastle Knights. 7 November 2018.
  4. "Players". 24 September 2018.
  5. "Schoolboys post record win in first Tour game". 27 November 2018.
  6. TOOHEY, BARRY (5 March 2019). "Rookie Knight Starford To'a's dazzling feet sign of big future". Newcastle Herald.
  7. "Exciting back Starford To'a awarded new deal". Newcastle Knights. 24 June 2019.
  8. TOOHEY, BARRY (6 September 2019). "Teenage winger Starford To'a to make Knights debut against Panthers". Newcastle Herald.
  9. "Penrith Panthers trounce Newcastle Knights to send James Maloney out on a high". National Rugby League. 8 September 2019.
  10. "Three Knights named in Junior Kiwis side". Newcastle Knights. 11 September 2019.
  11. "2020 season by the numbers". www.nrl.com.
  12. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  13. Tigers, Wests. "Wests Tigers sign Starford Toa". Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  14. "Canberra Raiders hand out 56-10 NRL drubbing to Wests Tigers as Cronulla beats Newcastle Knights 38-16". www.abc.net.au.
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