Malakai Watene-Zelezniak

Last updated

Malakai Watene-Zelezniak
WATENE-ZELEZNIAK,M 170702PB883.jpg
Personal information
Born (1991-08-28) 28 August 1991 (age 33)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight94 kg (14 st 11 lb)
Rugby league
Position Wing, Centre
Club
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
2017 Penrith Panthers 10000
2017–18 Wests Tigers 2590036
2019–20 Penrith Panthers 51004
Total31100040
Representative
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
2019 Tonga 9s 31004
2023 Poland 11004
Rugby union
Position Wing, Centre
Club
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
2014 NSW Country Eagles 40000
Source: [1]
Relatives Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (brother)
Steve Watene (great grandfather)

Malakai Watene-Zelezniak (born 27 August 1991) is a former rugby league footballer who played on the wing. He played for the Penrith Panthers in two separate spells, and the Wests Tigers in the NRL.

Contents

Watene-Zelezniak briefly played rugby union for the New South Wales Country Eagles in the National Rugby Championship.

Background

Watene-Zelezniak was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and is of Māori, Tongan and Polish descent. At 2 years old he moved to Hamilton, New Zealand, and returned to Sydney at 9 years old.[ citation needed ]

He played his junior rugby league for the St Clair Comets. He attended St. Dominic’s College, Penrith.

Watene-Zelezniak is the great-grandson of former New Zealand rugby league captain and politician, Steve Watene. [2] Watene-Zelezniak is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [2] Malakai is the older brother of the New Zealand Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

Playing career

Early career

Watene-Zelezniak played for the Penrith Panthers in the NYC from 2009 to 2011. [3]

In 2014, he joined the New South Wales Country Eagles of the National Rugby Championship. [4] He played in four of their matches. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Watene-Zelezniak returned to the Panthers during the 2015 season to play in their New South Wales Cup team. [9]

On 25 September 2015, Watene-Zelezniak was named in Tonga's preliminary train-on squad ahead of their 2017 World Cup qualifying match against the Cook Islands. [10]

He was selected to represent the New Zealand Māori in their match against the New Zealand Residents on 15 October 2016. [11]

2017

In February, Watene-Zelezniak was a member of the Panthers' Auckland Nines squad. [12] He made his NRL debut for the Panthers against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 7 April. His selection came after Matt Moylan, Waqa Blake and Peta Hiku were dropped for disciplinary reasons. [13] He played on the wing outside his younger brother Dallin, who said. "I had a feeling at the start of the week he was going to make his debut because they asked me to play left centre. Mal was training well, so I went over to him and said, 'I think you’re playing this week'." [14]

On 29 April, it was announced that Watene-Zelezniak had been released from the Panthers to immediately join the Wests Tigers until the end of 2018. [15] He made his club debut for the Tigers on 12 May, also against the Rabbitohs. [16] Coach Ivan Cleary, who was head coach when Watene-Zelezniak played in the lower grades at the Panthers and brought him to Wests Tigers, said "When we signed him, I never thought he'd play so much. He's really improved. He's improved on some fundamental stuff and each game he's improved." [17]

2018

Watene-Zelezniak made 12 appearances for Wests Tigers and scored 3 tries as the club missed out on the finals by finishing 9th on the table. He then departed the club at the end of the season to re-join Penrith on a two-year deal. [18] [19]

2019

Watene-Zelezniak only made four appearances for Penrith in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished a disappointing 10th on the table and missed out on the finals. [20]

2020

Watene-Zelezniak played only one game for Penrith in the 2020 NRL season. In October, he was released by the club. [21]

On 21 January 2021, Watene-Zelezniak announced his immediate retirement from rugby league due to acute kidney failure and associated complications. [22]

2023

On 23 Oct 2023 it was reported that he had made his debut for Poland 40-8 win over North Macedonia in Sydney [23]

Personal life

Malakai Watene-Zelezniak with his brother started a watch Company W Zelezniak. [24] [25]

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References

  1. ↑ "Malakai Watene-Zelezniak – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
  2. 1 2 Lane, Daniel (4 April 2014). "Penrith rookie Dallin Watene-Zelezniak shapes up to a family legend". Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. ↑ NYC Database. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "NSW Country Eagles announce NRC Squad for 2014". The Roar. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  5. ↑ Eagles 31 – 2 Rams. Fox Sports. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  6. ↑ Rays 21 – 33 Eagles. Fox Sports. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  7. ↑ Eagles 16 – 37 Rising. Fox Sports. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Eagles 40 – 34 Spirit. Fox Sports. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Dallin finds his feet in new role". Western Weekender. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "Tonga named preliminary train-on squad". NRL.com. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "Panthers picked for NZ Maori". penrithpanthers.com.au. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "Panthers picked for Nines". penrithpanthers.com.au. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  13. ↑ Newton, Alicia (5 April 2017). "Dream reunion for Watene-Zelezniak brothers". NRL.com. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  14. ↑ Christian Nicolussi. "Dallin and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak to renew rivalry as Panthers tackle Tigers". Daily Telegraph.
  15. ↑ "Wests Tigers sign Malakai Watene-Zelezniak". weststigers.com.au. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  16. ↑ "Updated team lists: Wests Tigers v Rabbitohs". NRL.com. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  17. ↑ Michael Chammas. "Watene-Zelezniak brothers ready for NRL battle as Penrith Panthers face Tigers". Canberra Times.
  18. ↑ "Wests Tigers 2018 season review". www.nrl.com. 30 October 2018.
  19. ↑ "Malakai Watene-Zelezniak to reunite with brother Dallin at Panthers". www.foxsports.com.au. 5 July 2018.
  20. ↑ "Panthers: 2019 season by the numbers". www.nrl.com. 10 November 2019.
  21. ↑ "Penrith confirm departure of six players". www.foxsports.com.au. 30 October 2020.
  22. ↑ @malakaiwatenezelezniak (21 January 2021). "Malakai Watene-Zelezniak retirement announcement" . Retrieved 21 January 2021– via Instagram.
  23. ↑ "Former NRL ace scores on Poland debut in win over international debutants North Macedonia". Love Rugby League. 23 October 2023.
  24. ↑ "Home". wzelezniak.com.au.
  25. ↑ https://www.foxsports.com.au/api/v1/article/amp/nrl/nrl-premiership/the-usinspired-business-venture-setting-up-nrls-watenezelezniak-brothers-for-life-after-footy/news-story/82fbfe0514223154853f57e5b0a5514e [ dead link ]
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