Manaia Cherrington

Manaia Cherrington

Cherrington playing for the Tigers in 2015
Personal information
Born	(1994-08-02) 2 August 1994 (age 29) Whangārei, New Zealand
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
Playing information
Position	Hooker, Five-eighth
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2015–16 Wests Tigers 16 1 0 0 4
Source: [1] As of 16 September 2018

Manaia Cherrington (born 2 August 1994) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Wests Magpies in the New South Wales Cup. He plays at hooker and previously played for the New Zealand Warriors, Wests Tigers and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

Background

Born in Whangārei, New Zealand, Cherrington is of Māori descent and moved to Sydney, Australia, aged 12. He played his junior rugby league for the Wentworthville Magpies and Quakers Hill Destroyers, before being signed by the Wests Tigers.^{[ citation needed ]}

Playing career

Early career

In 2013 and 2014, Cherrington played for the Wests Tigers' NYC team. ^[2] On 13 October 2013, he played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos. ^[3] On 12 February 2014, he re-signed with the Wests Tigers on a two-year contract. Coach Mick Potter said, "I think Manaia has good speed and awareness around the dummy half and he is still learning and growing so there’s a lot of potential there." ^[4]

At the end of the year, Cherrington was named at hooker in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year. ^[5] On 18 October 2014, he again played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos, this time captaining the side. ^{[6] [7]} In 2015, he moved on to the Wests Tigers' New South Wales Cup team. ^[8]

2015

In round 13, Cherrington made his NRL debut for the Wests Tigers against the Gold Coast Titans. ^[9] With regular hooker Robbie Farah injured, Cherrington covered the position in tandem with Dene Halatau for four weeks. Later in the season, he returned to first grade, playing off the bench in seven of the last eight games. Cherrington scored his first try in round 19, burrowing over from dummy half against the Broncos. ^[10]

At the end of the NRL regular season, Cherrington was called up to the senior New Zealand team as part of their train-on squad for their end-of-year tour in Great Britain. He didn't manage to make their final 23-man squad, however, two days after the announcement of the team, Jason Taumalolo was ruled out of the tour with a knee injury. Coach Stephen Kearney recalled Cherrington into the side. ^[11]

2016

With the Wests Tigers signing Matt Ballin for two seasons and Robbie Farah remaining, Cherrington was one of three hookers at the club in 2016. "I will be honest, I was a bit down (with the situation). But having both players there now, I get to work with two great hookers, I’ll work hard, do the extras and try to give JT some good selection headaches," he said. ^[12] Due to injuries, Cherrington was the only recognised hooker for the first game of the season. He played the first five games before being dropped to reserve grade.

Despite Ballin and Farah both being absent from first grade later in the season, Cherrington did not return to the team. On 12 August, he signed a one-year contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks starting in 2017. ^[13]

2017

On 9 June 2017 Cherrington joined the New Zealand Warriors on a year and a half contract. ^[14]

2018

Midway through the 2018 NRL season, Cherrington was released from his contract with the Warriors without making an appearance, and signed with the Souths Logan Magpies, making his debut in July. ^[15]

References

1. "Manaia Cherrington - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
2. "C". Nycdatabase.org. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
3. "Nine Warriors in Junior Kiwis squad". NRL.com. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
4. "Wests Tigers re-sign talented youngsters | NRL". Zerotackle.com. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
5. Steven Russo (2 September 2014). "Holden Cup Team Of The Year Announced". Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
6. "2014 JUNIOR KIWIS TEAM ANNOUNCED". Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
7. "Junior Kiwis confirm line-up". Warriors.co.nz. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
8. "VB NSW CUP TEAMS ROUND 1". NSWRL.com.au. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
9. "Late Changes: NRL Rd.13 vs. Titans - Tigers". Weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
10. Alicia Newton and Dan Talintyre. "2015 Season Review: Manaia Cherrington". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
11. "Star Kiwis forward Jason Taumalolo ruled out of England tour as Manaia Cherrington gets the call-up". stuff.co.nz. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
12. Christian Nicolussi. "Manaia Cherrington proud to be wearing Robbie Farah's famous No. 9 jumper". Daily Telegraph.
13. "Sharks sign Kiwi hooker". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
14. "Warriors sign Manaia Cherrington as Erin Clark leaves". Stuff.
15. "Manaia Cherrington". Queensland Rugby League.

External links

• New Zealand Warriors profile
• Wests Tigers profile