Talakai is a South Sydney junior from Mascot, who played junior reps for South Sydney between 2012 and 2015, scoring 382 points. He made his South Sydney senior grade club and premiership debut in the 2015 Round 11 U20(National Youth Cup) clash against Parramatta at Stadium Australia. The following year he stepped into reserve grade, when he played with the South Sydney feeder club North Sydney in the 2016 Round 5 NSW Cup clash against Newcastle at TG Milner Field. Two months later he stepped up to make his first grade club and premiership debut for South Sydney in the 2016 Round 13 clash against Gold Coast at Robina Stadium.
Talakai is a powerful running centre, who also has the ability to play second row. He is also a handy goalkicker. He was hampered by a knee injury later in career at South Sydney.
Talakai played 4 seasons with South Sydney between 2015 and 2018. He played 11 first grade club annd premiership games for South Sydney. Overall he played 31 senior grade career club and premiership games for South Sydney.
Talakai made his representative debut while at South Sydney for the Junior Kiwi's in 2016 against the Junior Kangaroos He played 2 representative games while at South Sydney.
Talakai play his final first grade premiership game for South Sydney in the 2017 Round 26 clash against Parramatta at Stadium Australia. He played his final first grade club game for South Sydney in the 2018 Tour-Trial clash against Wigan at Stadium Australia. He would play a few more reserve grade games for South Sydney feeder club North Sydney playing his last game in the 2018 Round 3 clash against St George-Illawarra at Ron Costello Oval in Shellharbour before transfered to Penrith mid-season.
Player Relatives
Brother - Talakai, Sam
Brother - Talakai, Ben
Playing - Height / Weight
178cm / 100kg
Representative Qualification
Tonga
Niue
New Zealand
Date of Birth
Sydney - 18th April 1997
South Sydney Junior Club
Mascot
Previous Clubs
none
Playing Career at South Sydney (2015-18)
South Sydney First Grade Debut
2016 Jun 5 Rd13 Robi v Gold Coast (19y 48d)
First Grade
Premiership
M S I T G/A FG Pts
2016 3 1 (2) 1 - - 4
2017 8 7 (1) 1 - - 4
2018 - - - - - - -
TOTAL 11 8 (3) 2 - - 8
SS FG 11 8 (3) 2 - - 8
South Sydney Senior Grade Debut
2015 May 22 Rd11 StAu v Parramatta (U20 - National Youth Cup)
2016 Apr 2 Rd05 TGMi v Newcastle (Reserve Grade)
Lower Grades
Reserve Grade : Third Grade(U20s) : U18s : U16s
Year M S I T G/A FG Pts : M S I T G/A FG Pts : M S I T G/A FG Pts : M S I T G/A FG Pts
2012 : : : . . . 5 16 - 52
2013 : : : . . . 9 57 - 150
2014 : : . . . 7 32 - 92 :
2015 : 12 8 (4) 6 -/1 - 24 : 12 12 - 3 38/47 - 88 :
2016 6 6 - 2 - - 8 : 3 3 - 1 7/8 - 18 : :
2017 4 3 (1) 1 - - 4 : 5 5 - 3 - - 12 : :
2018 3 3 - - - - - : : :
TOTAL 13 12 (1) 3 - - 12 : 20 16 (4) 10 7/9 - 54 : 10 70 - 180 : 14 73 - 202
South Sydney Senior(FG/RG/3G) Grade Career
Premiership : All Matches
M S I T G/A FG Pts : M S I T G/A FG Pts
CAREER 31 24 (7) 12 7/9 - 62 : 31 24 (7) 12 7/9 - 62
CAREER 44 36 (8) 15 7/9 - 74 : 44 36 (8) 15 7/9 - 74 (inc. Bears)
Short Form
9s
M S I T G/A FG Pts
2016 - - - - - - -
2017 - - - - - - -
TOTAL - - - - - - -
SS SF - - - - - - -
Scoring at South Sydney
Versus Premiership
T G/A FG Pts
Brisbane 1 - - 4
Gold Coast 1 - - 4
Venue Premiership
T G/A FG Pts
Prth 1 - - 4
StAu 1 - - 4
Match Statistics at South Sydney
2015 First Grade Statistics : Lower Grade Statistics
Min Tac Pe MT LB Rn DR m Er OL K TA T G FG : Min Tac Pe MT LB Rn DR m Er OL K TA T G FG
Rd11 : U20 Int Parramatta 61 32 1 2 - 7 - 66 - - - - - -/1 -
Rd12 : U20 Int Gold Coast 45 9 - 2 - 6 - 56 1 - - - - - -
Rd13 : U20 Cntr Warriors 80 13 1 2 1 11 - 157 1 1 1 - 1 - -
Rd16 : U20 Int Manly 25 15 - 3 - 6 - 53 - - - - - - -
Rd17 : U20 SRow Penrith 50 22 - 4 - 7 - 68 - - - - - - -
Rd19 : U20 Int St Geo-Ill 32 5 - 1 - 5 - 57 - - - - - - -
Rd20 : U20 Cntr Newcastle 80 14 - - - 24 1 270 - 1 - - - - -
Rd21 : U20 Cntr Penrith 80 15 - 1 - 18 - 171 - 1 - 1 - - -
Rd22 : U20 Cntr Warriors 80 11 - 4 1 19 - 208 - 1 - - 1 - -
Rd23 : U20 Cntr Nth Qld 80 8 - 1 2 19 - 224 - 1 - 1 2 - -
Rd24 : U20 Cntr Canterbury 80 - - - - 16 - 188 2 - - - - - -
Rd25 : U20 Cntr Brisbane 80 18 1 4 2 17 - 193 - 1 - - 2 - -
2015 TOTALS : 773 162 3 24 6 155 1 1711 4 6 1 2 6 -/1 -
2016 First Grade Statistics : Lower Grade Statistics
Min Tac Pe MT LB Rn DR m Er OL K TA T G FG : Min Tac Pe MT LB Rn DR m Er OL K TA T G FG
Rd03 : U20 RCnt St Geo-Ill 80 16 1 2 - 15 - 162 - - 1 - 1 - -
Rd04 : U20 Cntr Canterbury 80 12 1 - 2 17 - 209 1 - - 3 - - -
Rd05 : RG Cntr Newcastle 1 - -
Rd06 : RG Cntr Warriors - - -
Rd07 : U20 RCnt Nth Qld 80 11 - - - 12 - 134 - 1 - 1 - 7/8 -
Rd09 : RG LCnt Wests-Tig - - -
Rd10 18th Parramatta :
Rd11 18th St Geo-Ill : RG RCnt Wntwrthvll 1 - -
Rd13 Int Gold Coast 27 2 - - 1 5 - 57 - - - - 1 - - :
Rd14 Int Wests-Tig 36 16 1 2 - 1 - 6 - - - - - - - :
Rd15 LCnt Parramatta 75 18 - - - 10 - 96 - - - - - - - :
Rd23 : RG LCnt Warriors 47 - - -
Rd25 : RG LCnt Canterbury 53 - - -
2016 TOTALS 138 36 1 2 1 16 - 159 - - - - 1 - - : 3 7/8 -
2016 FG Average Minutes - 46.0
2016 FG Average Tackles (80 min) - 20.9
2016 FG Average Runs (80 min) - 9.3
2016 FG Average Meters per run - 9.9m
2016 FG Tackling Ability - 94.7%
2017 First Grade Statistics : Lower Grade Statistics
Min Tac Pe MT LB Rn DR m Er OL K TA T G FG : Min Tac Pe MT LB Rn DR m Er OL K TA T G FG
Rd01 LCnt Wests-Tig 80 11 1 2 - 18 - 163 - - - - - - - :
Rd02 18th Manly : RG LCnt Blacktown 80 19 2 - 1 11 - 115 - 1 - - 1 - -
Rd03 18th Newcastle : RG SRow Newcastle 61 19 - 3 - 12 - 123 - - - - - - -
Rd04 RCnt Syd Rstrs 68 9 - 3 - 9 - 86 - - - 1 - - - :
Rd05 RCnt Nth Qld 80 13 - - - 7 - 108 - 1 - - - - - :
Rd06 RCnt Penrith 80 9 - 2 - 16 1 130 1 - - - - - - :
Rd07 RCnt Canterbury 80 22 - 3 - 8 - 66 - - - - - - - :
Rd08 RCnt Brisbane 80 13 - 5 1 12 - 104 - - - - 1 - - :
Rd09 RCnt Manly 80 15 - - - 7 1 45 1 - - - - - - :
Rd10 : RG RCnt Newtown 67 11 1 1 - 11 - 121 - - 1 - - - -
Rd21 : U20 SRow Canberra 80 12 - 2 - 16 - 172 - - - 1 - - -
Rd22 : U20 SRow St Geo-Ill 80 13 - 2 1 17 - 162 1 - - - 1 - -
Rd23 : U20 SRow Canterbury 80 21 - 1 - 13 - 118 - - - - - - -
Rd24 : U20 SRow Warriors 80 12 - 1 1 14 - 156 - - - - 1 - -
Rd25 : U20 SRow Melbourne 67 25 - - 1 9 - 90 - - - - 1 - -
Rd26 Int Parramatta 10 3 - - - 1 - 9 - - - - - - - : RG Int Newcastle 63 26 - - - 10 - 107 - - - - - - -
2017 TOTALS 558 95 1 15 1 78 2 711 2 1 - 1 1 - - : 658 158 3 10 4 113 - 1165 1 1 1 1 4 - -
2017 FG Average Minutes - 69.8
2017 FG Average Tackles (80 min) - 13.6
2017 FG Average Runs (80 min) - 11.2
2017 FG Average Meters per run - 9.1m
2017 FG Tackling Ability - 86.4%
2018 First Grade Statistics : Lower Grade Statistics
Min Tac Pe MT LB Rn DR m Er OL K TA T G FG : Min Tac Pe MT LB Rn DR m Er OL K TA T G FG
TourT Int #21 Wigan W 32 8 - 1 - 1 - 9 2 - - - - - - :
Rd01 : RG SRow #11 Warriors L 80 15 - 6 - 9 - 77 2 - - - - - -
Rd02 : RG SRow #19 Penrith L 74 25 - 3 - 13 - 133 - 2 - - - - -
Rd03 : RG SRow #19 St Geo-Ill L 59 14 - 2 - 6 - 67 - - - - - - -
2018 TOTALS 32 8 - 1 - 1 - 9 2 - - - - - - : 213 54 - 11 - 28 - 277 2 2 - - - - -
Captaincy Record
Year Grade M( W- D-L %) never
Suspensions
Year Grade v Wk CO Ldg G CHARGE never
Sin Bins
Year Grade v CHARGE never
Player Awards
Year Award never
Representative Honours at South Sydney
Domestic
none
Internationals Tests : Other
M S I T G/A FG Pts : M S I T G/A FG Pts
New Zealand U20s 2016-17 - - - - - - - : 2 1 (1) 1 - - 4
TOTAL - - - - - - - : 2 1 (1) 1 - - 4
ALL REPS 2 1 (1) 1 - - 4
Year Pos Team Versus Match T G/A FG
2015 New South Wales (U18 SOO Squad)
2016 Int New Zealand v Australia U20s Test 1 - - (Selected at centre)
2017 SRow New Zealand v Australia U20s Test - - -
Player News
After Leaving South Sydney
Talakai went to represent New South Wales and become a international with Tonga in the 2022 Rugby League World Cup after leaving South Sydney.
Subsequent Clubs First Grade : Lower Grades
(FG)Premiership : (FG)Cup & Tour :
M T G FG 2FG Pt : M T G FG 2FG Pt : M T G FG 2FG Pt
Penrith (2018) : : RG 10 2 - - - 8
Newtown (2019-21) : : NSWC 25 10 - - - 40
Cronulla-Sutherland (2020-26) 122 25 1 - - 102 : 5 - - - - - :
Subsequent Rep Honours M T G FG 2FG Pt
New South Wales Origin (2022) 2 - - - - -
Tonga (2022) 2 - 1 - - 2
First Class Career (2016-25)
M T G FG 2FG Pts
Total FG Premiership 133 27 1 - - 110
Total FG Cup 5 - - - - -
Total FG Club Tour - - - - - -
Total Internationals 2 - 1 - - 2
Total State 2 - - - - -
Total Other Representative - - - - - -
TOTAL FIRST CLASS 142 27 2 - - 112
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