Keaon Koloamatangi
Keaon Koloamatangi (born 23 May 1998) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row and prop for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Keaon Koloamatangi | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 May 1998 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 106 kg (16 st 10 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row | |||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 3 Oct 2021 Source: [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life
Koloamatangi grew up in Burwood, New South Wales idolising Sonny Bill Williams and Willie Mason but has been a South Sydney junior since he was a kid thanks to his dad Izzy. Keaon was a Mascot Jets junior & once said "Dad wanted me to play for Mascot because they always won! Instead of putting me in the Canterbury comp he wanted me in the Souths comp because he knew a lot of people, a lot of great players came from there."[2] Keaon attended Ashfield Boys High School, he was an outstanding junior sportsman representing the school in a wide variety of sports and still holds several school swimming records. He is also of Tongan descent.
Playing career
2020
Koloamatangi made first grade debut in round 4 of the 2020 NRL season for South Sydney (first grade player number 1157)[3] against the Melbourne Storm.[4]
He made a total of 14 appearances in his first season as the club reached another preliminary final but were defeated by Penrith at ANZ Stadium.[5]
2021
In round 10 of the 2021 NRL season, Koloamatangi scored his first NRL try in South's 32-22 victory over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at Suncorp Stadium.[6]
Midway through the season, Koloamatangi was selected as 20th man in the NSW Blues squad for the first game of the 2021 State of Origin series[7]
He played a total of 23 games for South Sydney in the 2021 NRL season including the club's 2021 NRL Grand Final defeat against Penrith.[8]
References
- Rugby League Project
- https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/08/the-family-connection-souths-fans-can-thank-for-keaon/
- Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Keaon Koloamatangi gives Rabbitohs Radio a shoutout. YouTube.
- "Round 4 NRL team lists". NRL.com. 2 June 2020.
- "Penrith Panthers beat South Sydney Rabbitohs 20-16 to set up NRL grand final against Melbourne Storm". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- https://www.nrl.com/draw/nrl-premiership/2021/round-10/sharks-v-rabbitohs/
- https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/state-of-orgigin-nsw-blues-keaon-koloamatangi-rushed-in-to-extended-squad/7160f4aa-7d8a-4e87-a6d1-b320a813ba65
- "One of finest NRL grand finals of all time provides cure to difficult season". www.theguardian.com.