Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Emarly Bitungane | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 October 2002 Tanzania [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [2] As of 10 August 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Emarly Bitungane (born 27 October 2002) is a Tanzanian-born rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Bitungane was born in Tanzania to Burundian parents. In 2007 he moved to Australia, growing up in Woodridge, Queensland. [3] [4]
He played his junior rugby league for Logan Brothers and attended Woodridge State High School and St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace. [5]
In 2019 and 2020, Bitungane played for the Easts Tigers in the Mal Meninga Cup. [6] [7]
In 2021, after playing for the Tigers in the Hastings Deering Colts and spending a year in the Melbourne Storm's junior system, Bitungane signed with the North Queensland Cowboys, joining their Young Guns program. [8] [9] In 2022, he played for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Colts competition, playing in their Grand Final win over the Redcliffe Dolphins. [10]
In 2023, Bitungane moved up to the Queensland Cup, playing nine games for Townsville. On 24 October 2023, he was upgrade to an NRL development contract with the Cowboys. [11] In 2024, he moved to the Northern Pride, playing 19 games. [12]
In Round 22 of the 2025 NRL season, Bitungane made his NRL debut against the Cronulla Sharks. [13]