Shakiah Tungai facts for kids
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Personal information
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| Born | 29 November 1996 Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 69 kg (10 st 12 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Playing information
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| Position | Wing, Five-eighth, Fullback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 1 November 2023
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Shakiah Tungai (born 29 November 1996) is an Australian rugby league player. She plays as a winger or five-eighth. Shakiah has played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons Women, Brisbane Broncos Women, and Canberra Raiders Women in the NRL Women's Premiership. She has also represented Australia and New South Wales in the sport.
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Early Life and Background
Shakiah Tungai was born in Wollongong, a city in New South Wales, Australia. She is from an Indigenous Australian background.
Before playing rugby league, Shakiah was a talented soccer player. She started playing in the top-level soccer league at just 14 years old. She often won "golden boot" awards for being the best goal scorer in her league. Her soccer team was very successful, winning many State Cup Championships. In 2016, she won a special award called the Kyah Simon Player of the Tournament Medal at the National Indigenous Soccer Championships. Shakiah switched to rugby league in 2017.
Rugby League Career
Starting Out: 2018
In June 2018, Shakiah played for NSW Country at the Women's National Championships. This was an important step in her rugby league journey. On 26 July, she signed with the St. George Illawarra Dragons team for the new NRL Women's Premiership. This is a top professional league for women's rugby league.
Shakiah made her debut for the Dragons in the first round of the 2018 NRL Women's season. She scored one try and kicked three goals that season. This made her the Dragons' top point scorer for the year.
Later that year, on 6 October, Shakiah played for the Prime Minister's XIII team. She had an amazing game, scoring three tries and kicking three goals in a big win against Papua New Guinea.
Big Moments: 2019
The year 2019 was full of big moments for Shakiah. On 15 February, she played for the Indigenous All Stars team. She scored a try in their close game against the Māori All Stars.
In May, she again represented NSW Country at the Women's National Championships. On 21 June, Shakiah made her debut in the Women's State of Origin series. This is a huge rivalry game between New South Wales and Queensland. She scored a try, helping New South Wales win 14–4 against Queensland.
On 6 October, Shakiah played in the NRLW Grand Final for the Dragons. They played against the Brisbane Broncos. In October, she also represented Australia at the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s. This is a fast-paced version of rugby league.
Her amazing year continued on 25 October when she made her Test debut for Australia. She scored a try and kicked three goals in a win against New Zealand.
Challenges: 2020
On 22 February 2020, Shakiah played for the Indigenous All Stars again. She helped her team win against the Māori All Stars, but she injured her shoulder during the game.
In the first round of the 2020 NRL Women's season, Shakiah played for the Dragons. Unfortunately, she injured her shoulder again during this game. This injury meant she could not play for the rest of the season.
