 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1998-01-11)11 January 1998 (age 27) Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 192 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 115 kg (18 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source:[1] As of 30 August 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas Mikaele (born 11 January 1998) is a professionalrugby league footballer who plays as aprop for theNorth Queensland Cowboys in theNational Rugby League (NRL).
He previously played for theWests Tigers,Gold Coast Titans andWarrington Wolves.
Mikaele was born inAuckland,New Zealand, and is ofSamoan descent.[2]
He grew up inIpswich, Queensland and played his junior rugby league for theGoodna Eagles. From 2015 to 2016, while attendingKeebra Park State High School, he was selected twice for theAustralian Schoolboys.[3]
In 2014, Mikaele played for theIpswich Jets in theCyril Connell Cup, before moving up to theirMal Meninga Cup team in 2015. In 2015, he was selected in theQueensland under-18 team, scoring a try in their 22–18 win over New South Wales.[4] In 2016, he again represented the Queensland under-18 team, starting at prop in a loss to New South Wales.[5]
In 2017, Mikaele joined theWests Tigers, playing for theirNRL Under-20s andJersey Flegg Cup sides.[6][7]
In Round 1 of the2019 NRL season, Mikaele made his NRL debut against theManly-Warringah Sea Eagles atLeichhardt Oval.[8][9] He made 23 appearances over the course of the season, only missing one game in first grade, and re-signed with the Tigers until the end of the 2021 season.[10] Starting the season from the bench, he finished playing in the starting team at prop. He was one of the competition's leaders in attracting defenders, with 4 needed for 65% of his attacking runs.[11]
At season's end, Mikaele was diagnosed withkeratoconus. He said, "I couldn't see about 15 metres in front of me so a ball coming to me was hard to catch at times or something happening further up the field. I didn't realise I had eye problems beyond just needing glasses. I started having a lot of handling errors from last year and then over the off-season. I noticed at training I couldn't see as far even with my contacts in."[11]
Mikaele played 18 games for Wests in the2020 NRL season. The club missed the finals by finishing 11th on the table.[12]
Mikaele played a total of 19 games for theWests Tigers in the2021 NRL season as the club finished a disappointing 13th and missed the finals.[13]
On 23 May, he was granted an immediate release from his Wests Tigers contract to join English sideWarrington on a two-and-a-half-year deal.[14]
On 31 March, Mikaele was granted an immediate release from his Warrington contract on compassionate grounds. Mikaele then signed a contract to join theGold Coast. Mikaele left Warrington despite the club sitting on top of the Super League table.[15] While with the Titans, Mikaele played just one game, spending the majority of his time with theBurleigh Bears in theQueensland Cup.[16]
On 2 August, Warrington re-signed Mikaele for the remainder of the season, three days after coachDaryl Powell left the club by mutual consent following a run of eight losses in nine games.[17][18]
On 7 December, he joined theNorth Queensland Cowboys on a one-year development contract.[19]
On 27 February, after two tries in a trial againstCanberra, Mikaele was promoted to the Cowboys' Top 30 squad.[20]Mikaele played 12 games for North Queensland in the2024 NRL season as they finished 5th on the table and qualified for the finals.[21]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)