Krystal Rota (born 3 October 1985) is a New Zealand rugby league footballer.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Auckland, New Zealand | 3 October 1985||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 77 kg (12 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Hooker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: RLP As of 14 November 2022 |
She previously played for the New Zealand Warriors and Newcastle Knights in the NRL Women's Premiership.
Primarily a hooker, she is a New Zealand international.
Background
Born in Auckland, Rota began playing rugby league for the Manurewa Marlins when she was 17.[1]
Playing career
In 2008, Rota was selected in the New Zealand train-on squad for the 2008 Women's Rugby League World Cup but was not selected in the final squad.[2]
In 2015, Rota returned to rugby league after a three-year break. On 3 May 2015, she made her debut for New Zealand, coming off the bench in a 14–22 loss to Australia.[3] On 6 May 2016, she started at hooker for New Zealand in their 26–16 win over Australia.[4]
In 2017, Rota represented New Zealand at the 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup. On 2 December 2017, she started at hooker in New Zealand's final loss to Australia.[5]
On 31 July 2018, she joined the New Zealand Warriors NRL Women's Premiership team.[6] In Round 1 of the 2018 NRL Women's season, she made her debut for the Warriors in their 10–4 win over the Sydney Roosters.[7]
On 15 February 2019, Rota captained the Māori All Stars and scored a try in their 8–4 win over the Indigenous All Stars.[8] In October 2019, she was a member of New Zealand's 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s-winning squad.[9]
On 22 February 2020, she captained the Māori All Stars in their 4–10 loss to the Indigenous All Stars.[10] Rota withdrew from the 2020 NRL Women's season due to family and work commitments.[11]
On 1 December 2021, Rota signed with the Newcastle Knights to be a part of their inaugural NRLW squad.[12] In February 2022, she was announced as one of the club captains.[13]
In Round 1 of the delayed 2021 NRL Women's season, Rota made her club debut for the Knights against the Parramatta Eels.[14] She played in 4 matches for the Knights, before parting ways with the club at the end of the season.[15]
In October 2022, she was selected for the New Zealand squad at the delayed 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup in England.[16]