James Tamou was born on 13 December 1988 and is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop for the Townsville Blackhawks on the Queensland Cup.
31 Facts About James Tamou
1.
2.
James Tamou played at representative level for the NRL Allstars, NSW City, and New South Wales in the State of Origin series.
3.
James Tamou is of Cook Island-Maori and and is of Danish descent.
4.
James Tamou began playing junior rugby league in Levin for the Levin Knights in New Zealand.
5.
At the age of 13, Tamou moved with his family to Australia.
6.
James Tamou then played his junior rugby league for the Paddington Tigers and attended Matraville Sports High School in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.
7.
James Tamou played for the Roosters' NYC team in 2008 and was one of the club's best performers, before signing for the North Queensland Cowboys for the 2009 season.
8.
James Tamou finished his debut year in the NRL with 12 matches and two tries.
9.
In 2010, James Tamou was named the North Queensland club's most improved player of the year, after playing in 19 matches and scoring a try.
10.
On 16 October, James Tamou represented New Zealand Maori when they faced England before the start of the 2010 Four Nations tournament.
11.
James Tamou later played a major part in North Queensland's surge to the finals, finishing the season with him playing in 23 matches and scoring two tries.
12.
James Tamou had received phone calls from then New South Wales coach Ricky Stuart and captain Paul Gallen about making the switch.
13.
The 2012 NRL season was a breakout year for James Tamou, playing in 24 matches and scoring two tries as well as averaging more metres per game than any other prop in the NRL.
14.
On 10 December, James Tamou re-signed with the Cowboys, keeping him at the club to the end of the 2016 season.
15.
James Tamou finished the year with 22 appearances for North Queensland.
16.
In round 20, against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, James Tamou injured his neck, resulting with him being sidelined for a month.
17.
James Tamou finished the season with him playing in 21 matches and scoring one try.
18.
James Tamou underwent neck surgery at the end of the season, ruling him out of Australia's Four Nations campaign.
19.
Early into the season, rumours were floating around about James Tamou was going to offloaded from North Queensland to the Canberra Raiders after his bad performances in the Cowboys first 3 losses off the season, but later on James Tamou returned to his best form when North Queensland went on their 11 match winning streak.
20.
James Tamou finished his successful year with him playing in 24 matches and scoring two tries.
21.
On 16 June 2016, it was announced that James Tamou had signed a four-year deal with the Penrith Panthers.
22.
James Tamou finished his last year with the North Queensland Cowboys with him playing in 25 matches and scoring two tries in the 2016 NRL season.
23.
In February 2017, James Tamou was named in Penrith's 2017 NRL Auckland Nines squad.
24.
In 2018, James Tamou was not selected in the NSW Blues State of Origin squad for the second year in a row despite Penrith being on top of the table after 13 rounds and the player showing good form.
25.
James Tamou played a total of 25 games for Penrith in 2018 as the club qualified for the finals but were eliminated by Cronulla in week two of the finals series.
26.
James Tamou made a total of 24 appearances for Penrith in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished a disappointing 10th place and missed out on the finals for the first time since 2015.
27.
James Tamou played 22 games for Penrith in the 2020 NRL season as the club won the Minor Premiership and went on a 17-game unbeaten run to reach the 2020 NRL Grand Final.
28.
James Tamou played a total of 19 games for the Wests Tigers in the 2021 NRL season as the club finished 13th and missed the finals.
29.
James Tamou signed a one-year deal to return to the North Queensland Cowboys for the 2023 NRL season, playing his first game off the bench in the side's round 1 win over the Canberra Raiders.
30.
James Tamou later signed with the Townsville Blackhawks for the 2024 Queensland Cup Season.
31.
James Tamou is the cousin of Huddersfield Giants player Kenny Edwards.