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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Zachary Cini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 24 May 2000 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 91 kg (14 st 5 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre, Fullback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 13 July 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Zachary Cini (born 24 May 2000) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre or fullback for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
He has previously played for Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League.
Cini was born in Sydney and is of Maltese descent.
Cini played his junior rugby league for the Minchinbury Jets. He later said, "I grew up supporting the Tigers. I loved Benji in 2005 and I used to sit in the lounge room watching him on TV. When he played the grand final I was five and I used to go out into the yard and try to practise the Benji step." [3]
Cini came through the Penrith Panthers junior system playing in their SG Ball championship winning team of 2018, he was educated at St Dominic's College, Penrith where he made the Australian Schoolboys rugby league team in that same year. [4]
Cini was named to his debut in round 8 for the Tigers, starting on the wing against the St. George Illawarra Dragons away at WIN Stadium. [5] At the time he was leading the lower NSW Cup competition in post-contact metres, tackle breaks, runs and run metres. [6] He scored a try and had another disallowed as he "starred" in his first game. [3] He said after the match, "I got about 20 tickets for family and my mates organised a bus. I think there was about 50 of them that jumped on the bus and sat in that corner. You could definitely hear them. It is a dream just to play footy but to score on debut with my mates in that corner, just the support they gave was awesome and made it 10 times better." [3] The Sydney Morning Herald said, "The flying mullet man from Minchinbury, a mad Wests Tigers fan, became an instant cult hero." [7]
Cini played a total of four matches for the Wests Tigers in the 2021 NRL season as the club finished 13th and missed the finals. [8] In December 2021, Cini was released by the Wests Tigers and he joined NSW Cup side Newtown. [9]
Before the start of the 2022 NSW Cup season, Cini departed Newtown and signed a contract to join Parramatta's NSW Cup team. [10]
Cini made no appearances for Parramatta's first grade team in 2023. He would instead play for the clubs NSW Cup side making 20 appearances and scoring eleven tries. [11]
On 21 August, it was announced that Cini would join Castleford Tigers in the Super League on a two-year deal from 2025. [12] [13] Cini made no first-grade appearances for Parramatta in 2024, instead featuring for the club's NSW Cup team. [14]
Cini was assigned squad number 3 for the 2025 season and made his Castleford debut on 9 February against Bradford in the Challenge Cup. [15] [16] In round 1 of the Super League campaign, Cini scored a try in the Tigers' 19-18 golden point extra-time defeat against Hull Kingston Rovers. [17] After beginning the season at left centre, he moved onto the right edge from round 4 in a swap with Sam Wood. [2] He scored one try against Leeds in round 3, Leigh in round 7, and Salford in round 11. [18] [19] [20]