Katelyn Vaha'akolo
Personal information
Born (2000-04-18) 18 April 2000
New Zealand
Height163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight72 kg (11 st 5 lb)
Playing information
Rugby league
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2020 Te Atatū Roosters
2021 Newcastle Knights 5 1 0 0 4
2022 Pt Chevalier Pirates 13 10 0 0 40
Total 18 11 0 0 44
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2020–22 New Zealand 5 5 0 0 20
2022 Māori All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
Rugby union
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2023 Blues Women 3 3 0 0 15
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2023 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 14 November 2022

Katelyn Vaha'akolo (born 18 April 2000) is a New Zealand rugby league and union player. She played wing for the Kiwi Ferns at the 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup and for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL Women's Premiership. She joined the Blues for the 2023 Super Rugby Aupiki season.

Background

Born in New Zealand, Vaha'akolo is of Māori and Tongan descent.[2] She is the younger sister of Freedom Vahaakolo who played for the Highlanders in Super Rugby.[2]

Rugby league career

In 2020, Vaha'akolo played for the Te Atatu Roosters and Akarana Falcons.[3][4] In November 2020, she represented the Kiwi Ferns.[5] In December 2021, she signed with the Newcastle Knights to be a part of their inaugural NRLW squad.[6]

In February 2022, Vaha'akolo played for the Māori All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars.[7] In Round 1 of the delayed 2021 NRL Women's season, she made her NRLW debut for the Knights against the Parramatta Eels.[8] She played in 5 matches for the Knights, scoring one try, before parting ways with the club at the end of the season.[9] She then joined the Pt Chevalier Pirates club in the Auckland Rugby League competition for the 2022 season. She scored at least 10 tries for them, though there were several matches without scorers submitted.

In October, she was selected for the New Zealand squad at the delayed 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup in England.[10]

Rugby union career

In April 2021, she played for the Moana Pasifika rugby union side in the Takiwhitu Tūturu rugby sevens competition.[11] It was announced in November 2022 that she would be joining the Blues Women for the 2023 Super Rugby Aupiki season.[12][13]

2023

On 17 April, Vaha'akolo was given a fulltime Black Ferns contract after a standout season for the Blues Women. She was one of 34 contracted players for the year.[14][15] She later made the Black Ferns 30-player squad to compete in the Pacific Four Series and O’Reilly Cup.[16][17] She made her international debut against Australia on 29 June 2023 at Brisbane.[18][19] In July, she started in the Black Ferns 21–52 victory over Canada at the Pacific Four Series in Ottawa.[20][21] In September, Vaha'akolo scored two tries in the Black Ferns' 43-3 victory over Australia.[22]

Vaha'akolo was awarded World Rugby's Women's 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year in November.[23][24]

References

  1. ↑ "Katelyn Vaha'akolo - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  2. 1 2 "Katelyn Vaha'akolo: the rugby league star with a voice for change". RNZ. 12 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "Katelyn Vaha'akolo - New Zealand Rugby League". 25 November 2020.
  4. ↑ League, Asia Pacific Rugby (6 October 2020). "Akarana Falcons put on clinical performance against Mid-Central Vipers".
  5. ↑ France, Marvin (7 November 2020). "Autumn Stephens-Daly stars on debut as Kiwi Ferns celebrate milestone in style". Stuff.
  6. ↑ "Knights finalise NRLW squad with signings of Queensland-based players". Newcastle Knights. 3 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "Maori v Indigenous All Stars: Both sides 1-18 with no late changes". National Rugby League. 12 February 2022.
  8. ↑ "Late mail: 1-17 confirmed for opening NRLW game". Newcastle Knights. 27 February 2022.
  9. ↑ "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  10. ↑ Priest, Craig (2 October 2022). "Kiwi Ferns name 24-strong World Cup squad". New Zealand Rugby League. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "Moana Pasifika women make rugby history". RNZ. 9 April 2021.
  12. ↑ Hinton, Marc (15 November 2022). "Blues women sign Kiwi Ferns World Cup star Katelyn Vaha'akolo for Super Rugby Aupiki". Stuff. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  13. ↑ "CROSS-CODE STAR VAHA'AKOLO JOINS nib BLUES WOMEN". Blues Rugby. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  14. ↑ Ekin, Kim (19 April 2023). "Black Ferns announce contracts for 34 players including six Super Rugby Aupiki standouts". www.rugbypass.com. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  15. ↑ "Black Ferns contracts announced for 2023". allblacks.com. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  16. ↑ "First Black Ferns squad of 2023 named". allblacks.com. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  17. ↑ "Nine rookies named in first Black Ferns squad of 2023". NZ Herald. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  18. ↑ "PREVIEW: Black Ferns v Wallaroos (Brisbane)". allblacks.com. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  19. ↑ Burnes, Campbell (30 June 2023). "Black Ferns run rampant in Redcliffe". allblacks.com. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  20. ↑ "Black Ferns fly past Canada in front of record crowd in Ottawa". Americas Rugby News. 9 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  21. ↑ Burnes, Campbell (9 July 2023). "Black Ferns secure WXV1 qualification with Ottawa victory". allblacks.com. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  22. ↑ "Rugby: Black Ferns retain unbeaten record over Australia to secure O'Reilly Cup series" – via www.newshub.co.nz.
  23. ↑ "Women's nominees revealed for World Rugby Awards 2023". World Rugby. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "Marlie Packer crowned World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year". World Rugby. 4 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
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