- Clinton Toopi
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Clinton Toopi Personal information Full name Clinton James Te-Whata Toopi[1] Born 29 February 1980
Stratford, New ZealandHeight 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Weight 100 kg (15 st 10 lb) [2] Playing information Rugby league Position Centre Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1999–06 Auckland Warriors 129 57 0 0 228 2006–08 Leeds Rhinos 43 9 0 0 36 2010– Gold Coast Titans 26 6 0 0 24 Total 198 72 0 0 288 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2000–10 New Zealand Māori 4 2 0 0 8 2001–07 New Zealand 22 11 0 0 44 Rugby union Position Centre Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2009 Bay of Plenty As of 26 July 2011 Source: RLP Clinton Toopi (born 29 February 1980 in Stratford, New Zealand) is a professional rugby footballer who is currently playing for the Gold Coast Titans of the National Rugby League. His usual position is centre.
Contents
Playing career
Toopi began his career playing rugby league with the junior ranks of the Mt Wellington and Otahuhu Leopards clubs. He played for Auckland South in the 1999 provincial competition.[3] His first grade career began with the then Auckland Warriors, debuting against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 2 May 1999. He went on to play 119 games for the club, including the 2002 Grand Final.
On 31 May 2006 Leeds Rhinos announced the capture of Toopi for the 2007 season as a replacement for Chev Walker. On 17 July he was granted an early release from the New Zealand Warriors so he could join the Rhinos for the rest of the season, this was granted the day before the deadline to register players in Super League. He made his debut on 4 August 2006 against Hull FC.[4]
Rugby Union career
On 23 August 2008 Leeds released Toopi, due to a knee reconstruction that would keep him out of action for 9 months. He attracted interest from the Japanese rugby union club Sanyo Wild Knights and expressed interest in joining the Manly Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League competition however he did not secure a contract.[5][6]
Toopi instead returned to New Zealand and switched to rugby union, joining the Whakatane Marist team in the Eastern Bay rugby union competition. On 18 June 2009 it was announced that he had made the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union's squad for the Air New Zealand Cup, justifying his switch of codes.[7] He agreed to join the Gold Coast Titans for 2010.
Return to league
During the 2010 pre-season Toopi trialed with the Gold Coast Titans.[8] He did enough to impress management and earn a one year contract.[9]
Representative career
In 2000 Toopi was part of the Aotearoa Maori side that played at the World Cup.
Toopi represented New Zealand on twelve occasions between 2001 and 2005. Toopi played for the Kiwis 14 times. He scored three tries in one match against Australia in the 2005 Tri Nations.
Toopi again played for the New Zealand Māori in 2010, captaining the side against England.[10]
External links
References
- ^ TOOPI, CLINTON JAMES TE-WHATA 2001 - 2007 - KIWI #688 nzleague.co.nz
- ^ http://www.titans.com.au/default.aspx?s=player-profile-display&id=3202&player=clinton-toopi&team=Titans Titans Player Profile 6 May 2011
- ^ Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4, p.323.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Japanese scouts eye Toopi
- ^ Toopi's Heading Back
- ^ Recycled Toopi into mix for Steamers Rotorua Daily Post, 18 June 2009
- ^ http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/11/14/158391_gold-coast-titans.html
- ^ Toopi signs NRL deal with Titans NRL.com, 5 March 2010
- ^ Maori draw with England New Zealand Herald, 16 October 2010
Gold Coast Titans – current squad Prince (c) • Bailey • Bird • Brown • Campbell • Capewell • Friend • Gordon • Harrison • Henderson • Henry • James • Laffranchi • Lawrence • Lawton • Matthews • Mead • Meyers • Michaels •
Minichiello • O'Dwyer • Peyroux • Rankin • Ridge • Rogers • Srama • Thompson • Tomane • Tonga • Toopi • Vickery • Walker • White • Williams • Zillman • Coach: CartwrightLeeds Rhinos squad – 2007 Super League champions 1 Brent Webb • 2 Scott Donald • 3 Clinton Toopi • 4 Keith Senior • 5 Lee Smith • 6 Danny McGuire • 7 Rob Burrow
• 8 Kylie Leuluai • 9 Matt Diskin • 10 Jamie Peacock • 11 Jamie Jones-Buchanan • 12 Gareth Ellis • 13 Kevin Sinfield (c)
• 14 Ali Lauitiiti • 15 Ryan Bailey • 16 Ian Kirke • 17 Carl Ablett
• Coach: Tony SmithNew Zealand – 2005 Tri-Nations Champions (1st Title) Aotearoa Māori squad – 2000 Rugby League World Cup Categories:- 1980 births
- Auckland rugby league team players
- Bay of Plenty rugby union players
- Burleigh Bears players
- Gold Coast Titans players
- Leeds Rhinos players
- Living people
- Mount Wellington Warriors players
- New Zealand Māori rugby league team players
- New Zealand national rugby league team players
- New Zealand rugby league players
- New Zealand rugby union players
- New Zealand Warriors players
- Otahuhu Leopards players
- People from the Taranaki Region
- Rugby league centres
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