Championship club snap up overseas back as contract length revealed
Toa Mata'afa (ball in hand) in action for Parramatta Eels during an NRL pre-season game in 2021
Championship outfit York have signed Samoan utility back Toa Mata’afa on a deal until the end of the 2026 campaign.
Mata’afa – who is able to slot in at full-back, on the wing or in the centres – has been plying his trade in the French Elite Championship for the last couple of years.
Having first linked up with Pia Donkeys, he has most recently donned a shirt for Lezignan – who finished 8th in the current campaign and missed out on the play-offs.
Before making the move to France, the 28-year-old had spent seven years Down Under in the New South Wales Cup, amassing 67 appearances in the second-grade competition.
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Championship club York snap up overseas back Toa Mata’afa as contract length revealed
Scoring 23 tries in the process, Mata’afa represented Wests Tigers, Newcastle Knights, Canterbury Bulldogs, Parramatta Eels and Norths Bears in the NSW Cup.
He makes the move to York with immediate effect, and will be in contention to make his debut at the LNER Community Stadium on Sunday as Mark Applegarth’s side host Hunslet.
Applegarth said: “He’s a player we’ve been monitoring for a month or two. He can fill in any of the positions in the back five.
“He’s a real handful, a real unit. He’s got some good skill on him, a really intelligent footballer.
“I’m sure he’ll quickly become a fan favourite.”
Mata’afa links up with a Knights side that sit 6th in the Championship having taken ten competition points from their opening nine league games this season.
Later this month, York also host Bradford Bulls in the semi-finals of the 1895 Cup. If they are able to win that clash, they’ll progress into the competition’s final, which takes place under the Wembley arch on June 7.
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