Geoff Daniela

Geoff Daniela (born 28 February 1987) is a Cook Islands international rugby league footballer. He is primarily a centre and wing. He has previously played professionally for the Penrith Panthers and the Wests Tigers, both in the National Rugby League. Daniela currently plays for the St Mary's Saints in the Ron Massey Cup competition.[4]

Geoff Daniela

Personal information
Full name	Geoffrey Daniela
Born	(1987-02-28) 28 February 1987 Auckland, New Zealand
Height	181.5 cm (5 ft 11.5 in)
Weight	88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
Playing information
Position	Centre, Wing
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2007–09 Penrith Panthers 20 13 0 0 52 2010–11 Wests Tigers 15 4 0 0 16 2012–13 Penrith Panthers 10 2 0 0 8 Total 45 19 0 0 76 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2012–17 Cook Islands 2 3 0 0 12
As of 6 May 2017 Source: [1][2][3]

Early life

Daniela was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He is of Niuean and Cook Islands descent.

He attended school at Hebersham Primary School, Plumpton High School, and St Dominic's College in Sydney, Australia. He played junior rugby league with the Western City Tigers (Mt Druitt), Blacktown Workers and St Mary's Saints. He represented New South Wales at under-17s and under-19s level.[1]

Playing career

Daniela made his NRL debut with Penrith in round 11, 2007, against the Wests Tigers at CUA Stadium. In his three seasons with Penrith he scored 13 tries from just 20 appearances.

Joining the Wests Tigers from 2010,[5] Daniela made 13 appearances in the first season at his new club, either playing at centre or starting from the bench. He scored a hat-trick in a game against the New Zealand Warriors, and played in one semi-final.[6] In 2011, a torn pectoral muscle suffered in round 5[7] saw him take no further part in the season.

Returning to Penrith in 2012, Daniela played his first game in the 30-0 loss to previous club Wests Tigers. He made 8 appearances in the centres for the season, for only 2 wins. In 2013, Daniela played at centre for the first two weeks of the season, but they were to be his only games in first grade for the year.

On 28 August 2017, Daniela was named in the Ron Massey Cup team of the year.[8]

Daniela captained St Mary's in their 2019 Ron Massey Cup grand final defeat by the Wentworthville Magpies at Leichhardt Oval.[9]

Representative career

Daniela was named in the Cook Islands' squad for the 2009 Pacific Cup,[10] but did not feature in the tournament. He scored a try for the Cook Islands in their match against Lebanon on 7 October 2012.

Daniela was named in Niue's train-on squad for their match against the Philippines on 4 October 2014,[11] but did not play in the game.

He scored two tries for the Cook Islands in their 2017 Pacific Test against Papua New Guinea on 6 May 2017.

References

1. "NSW Cook Islands Rugby League". nswcirla.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
2. "Geoff Daniela". Rugby League Project.
3. League Central
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Wests Tigers sign Penrith centre Geoff Daniela for next two NRL seasons". Fox Sports News (Australia). 15 July 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
6. "Geoff Daniela". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
7. "NRL: Tigers pay for Rabbitohs win with more injuries". Macarthur Chronicle. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
8. http://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2017/08/27/_2017_team_of_the_ye.html
9. "Wenty make history with third-straight GF win". NSWRL.
10. "2009 Pacific Cup: Squads". NRL.com. 10 October 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
11. "Niue name train-on squad for Philippines International". Asia Pacific RL. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2017.

External links

• Hardy schools his charges for final examination