Jirah Momoisea

Jirah Momoisea (born 2 September 1998) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who last played as a prop and second-row forward for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Jirah Momoisea

Personal information
Born	(1998-09-02) 2 September 1998 (age 25) Auckland, New Zealand
Height	193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	109 kg (17 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop, Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2021–22 Newcastle Knights 8 0 0 0 0 2023–24 Parramatta Eels 3 0 0 0 0 2024– Canterbury Bulldogs 0 0 0 0 0 Total 11 0 0 0 0
Source: ^[1] As of 16 March 2023

Background

Momoisea was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He played his junior rugby league for St Paul's College, before being signed by the Melbourne Storm.

Playing career

Early years

In 2017, Momoisea played for the Melbourne Storm NYC team.^[2] In 2018, he joined the Newcastle Knights and played for their Jersey Flegg Cup side.^[2] In 2019, he graduated to their Intrust Super Premiership team.^[3] In July 2019, he was upgraded to an NRL development contract with the Knights until the end of 2020.^[4] In January 2020, his contract was upgraded to the NRL top 30 squad and extended until the end of 2022.^[5] In December 2020, prior to the Christmas break, Momoisea ruptured his achilles tendon and had surgery to repair the injury, which would sideline him for the start of 2021.^[6]

2021

Momoisea made his return from injury with the Knights' Knock-On Effect NSW Cup side in May,^[7] before the competition was postponed in June and subsequently cancelled due to a breakout of the COVID-19 virus in New South Wales.^[8] However he travelled with the Knights' NRL squad to Queensland as the competition relocated to avoid the virus.^[9] In round 23 of the 2021 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Knights in their 22–16 win over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.^[10][11]

2022

In June, Momoisea signed a two-year contract with the Parramatta Eels starting in 2023.^[12]

2023

He made his club debut for Parramatta in round 1 of the 2023 NRL season against Melbourne. Parramatta would lose 16–12 in golden point extra-time.^[13] Momoisea was limited to just three matches for Parramatta in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 10th and missed the finals. Momoisea spent the majority of the year playing for the clubs NSW Cup team.^[14]

2024

In March, Momoisea was released by the Parramatta club.^[15]

References

1. "Jirah Momoisea - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
2. "Jirah Momoisea". 27 October 2019.
3. "TEAMS: NSWRL Canterbury Cup - 2019 Round 1 » League Unlimited". League Unlimited. 12 March 2019.
4. "Knights extend young guns Hoy and Momoisea". Newcastle Knights. 2 July 2019.
5. "Promising youngster Momoisea extends NRL deal". Newcastle Knights. 28 January 2020.
6. Cotton, Ben (27 January 2021). "Fresh injury blow for Knights halfback Mitchell Pearce". Zero Tackle.
7. "Team List Tuesday | The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Rd 12". New South Wales Rugby League. 25 May 2021.
8. "NSWRL forced to cancel major competitions and community football due to ongoing COVID crisis". www.sportingnews.com.
9. "NRL clubs to move into Queensland hubs amid NSW COVID-19 outbreak". www.abc.net.au. 11 July 2021.
10. "Knights v Bulldogs Round 23 NRL team list". Newcastle Knights. 17 August 2021.
11. "Knights in seventh heaven after holding off brave Bulldogs". National Rugby League. 21 August 2021.
12. "Momoisea to join Parramatta Eels". Parramatta Eels. 22 June 2022.
13. "Melbourne Storm beat Parramatta Eels in golden point: NRL 2023 season opener – as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
14. "NRL 2023: Parramatta Eels season review". www.sportingnews.com.
15. "Panthers extend former Bulldogs star as cover for May; Cowboys' bid to keep gun: Transfer Whispers". www.foxsports.com.au.

External links

• Newcastle Knights profile