Alehana Mara
Personal information
Born (1989-11-01) 1 November 1989
Porirua, Wellington, New Zealand[1]
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight105 kg (16 st 7 lb)
Playing information
PositionHooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010–12 New Zealand Warriors 16 0 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2012– Vanuatu 3 0 0 1 1
Source: [2][3]

Alehana Mara (born 6 November 1989) is a Vanuatu former professional international rugby league footballer who last played for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the Queensland Cup. Mara previously played for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League.

Early life

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Mara is of Ni-Vanuatu descent through his father, and Tokelauan descent through his mother. He attended St Patrick's College and represented the school in rugby union.[4] Mara played his junior rugby league for the St George club in the Wellington Rugby League competition.[1] He represented the Junior Kiwis in 2006 and the NZ under-18 team in 2007 before going onto play for the Wellington Orcas in the Bartercard Cup.[5]

Playing career

Mara joined the New Zealand Warriors in 2008 for the inaugural season of the Under 20's National Youth Competition. He played 39 games for the Juniors Warriors over two seasons, scoring eleven tries and finishing the 2009 season as the squads' captain.[6]

When he moved into the Warriors' first grade squad, Mara found himself behind Nathan Friend as the team's first choice hooker. He spent much of his time playing for the Warriors' feeder team, the Auckland Vulcans, in the New South Wales Cup.[7] He made his NRL for the Warriors on 21 August 2010 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.[4] In May 2011, Mara re-signed with the Warriors until the end of 2013.[8] Mara represented Vanuatu in their first ever Test match, against Greece on 20 October 2012.[9]

In 2014, Mara joined the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the Queensland Cup competition. Mara played with Wynnum Manly up until the end of 2016.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 Richardson, Daniel (20 March 2013). "Mara's name shouldn't be forgotten". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Alehana Mara". Rugby League Project.
  3. ↑ "Test Match Playing Records". vanuaturl.com.
  4. 1 2 Kilgallon, Steve (29 August 2010). "Warriors debut memory will live forever with Mara". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Worthington, Sam (29 April 2011). "Mara the little-known Wellington Warrior". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "Alehana Mara". warriors.co.nz. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Lawton, Aaron (11 May 2012). "Happy days for NZ Warriors' Alehana Mara". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  8. ↑ Johnstone, Duncan (29 May 2011). "Warriors extend Lillyman's contract". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Alehana Mara happy to help Vanuatu in long-term World Cup quest". Radio New Zealand. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Dolphins come up short". redcliffedolphins.com.au. 13 February 2014.
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