| Atawhai Tupaea | |
| Fullname: | Atawhai Message |
| Nickname: | Ata |
| Birth Date: | 1989 2, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Papakura, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Height: | 166cm (65inches) |
| Weight: | 77kg (170lb) |
| Appearances2: | 3 |
| Tries2: | 1 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Fieldgoals2: | 0 |
| Points2: | 4 |
| Teama: | New Zealand |
| Yearastart: | 2014 |
| Yearaend: | 19 |
| Appearancesa: | 10 |
| Triesa: | 6 |
| Goalsa: | 0 |
| Fieldgoalsa: | 0 |
| Pointsa: | 24 |
| Teamb: | New Zealand 9s |
| Yearbstart: | 2017 - 2019 |
| Appearancesb: | 4 |
| Triesb: | 1 |
| Goalsb: | 0 |
| Fieldgoalsb: | 0 |
| Pointsb: | 4 |
| Source: | RLP |
| Updated: | 28 November 2020 |
Atawhai Tupaea (born 3 February 1989) is a New Zealand rugby league footballer who played as a for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL Women's Premiership.
She is a New Zealand representative.
Born in Papakura, Auckland, Tupaea represented New Zealand in tag, rugby, touch football before switching to rugby league.[1]
In 2014, Tupaea began playing for the Papakura Sisters and represented Counties Manukau.[2] On 9 November 2014, she made her Test debut for New Zealand, scoring a try in their 12–8 win over Australia at WIN Stadium.[3] On 28 January 2015, she was named the NZRL Women's Player of the Year.[4]
On 6 May 2016, she started on the and scored two tries for New Zealand in their 26–16 win over Australia.[5]
In 2017, she played all five games for New Zealand at the 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup, including starting on the in their 16–23 final loss to Australia.[6]
In 2019, Tupaea returned to rugby league after a year off and was signed by the New Zealand Warriors NRL Women's Premiership team.[7] In Round 1 of the 2019 NRL Women's season, she made her debut for the Warriors, starting at and scoring a try in their 16–12 win over the Sydney Roosters.[8]
In October 2019, she joined New Zealand's 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s-winning squad.[9]
Atawhai is a proud mum of two and wife
New Zealand – Winners