Quick Facts
Biography
Malakai Watene-Zelezniak (born 27 August 1991) is an Australian-born rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League. He primarily plays on the wing. He previously played for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL, and briefly rugby union for the New South Wales Country Eagles in the National Rugby Championship.
Background
Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Watene-Zelezniak is of Māori, Tongan, and Polish descent. At 2 years old he moved Hamilton, New Zealand, and returned to Sydney at 9 years old. He played his junior rugby league for the St Clair Comets.
Watene-Zelezniak is the great-grandson of former New Zealand rugby league captain and politician, Steve Watene. Watene-Zelezniak is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Malakai is the older brother of Penrith Panthers winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
Playing career
Early career
Watene-Zelezniak played for the Penrith Panthers in the NYC from 2009 to 2011. In 2014, he joined the New South Wales Country Eagles of the National Rugby Championship. He played in four of their matches. Watene-Zelezniak returned to the Panthers during the 2015 season to play in their New South Wales Cup team. On 25 September 2015, Watene-Zelezniak was named in Tonga's preliminary train-on squad ahead of their 2017 World Cup qualifying match against the Cook Islands. He was selected to represent the New Zealand Māori in their match against the New Zealand Residents on 15 October 2016.
2017
In February, Watene-Zelezniak was a member of the Panthers' Auckland Nines squad. He made his NRL debut for the Panthers against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 7 April. His selection came after Matt Moylan, Waqa Blake, and Peta Hiku were dropped for disciplinary reasons. He played on the wing outside his younger brother Dallin, who said. "I had a feeling at the start of the week he was going to make his debut because they asked me to play left centre. Mal was training well, so I went over to him and said, 'I think you’re playing this week'."
On 29 April, it was announced that Watene-Zelezniak had been released from the Panthers to immediately join the Wests Tigers until the end of 2018. He made his club debut for the Tigers on 12 May, also against the Rabbitohs. Coach Ivan Cleary, who was head coach when Watene-Zelezniak played in the lower grades at the Panthers and brought him to Wests Tigers, said "When we signed him, I never thought he'd play so much. He's really improved. He's improved on some fundamental stuff and each game he's improved."