Aaron Whittaker

---

title: "Aaron Whittaker" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1968-births", "living-people", "20th-century-new-zealand-sportsmen", "21st-century-new-zealand-sportsmen", "canterbury-rugby-league-team-players", "halswell-hornets-players", "illawarra-steelers-players", "new-zealand-national-rugby-league-team-players", "new-zealand-rugby-league-players", "new-zealand-rugby-league-referees", "new-zealand-warriors-players", "riccarton-knights-players", "rugby-league-halfbacks", "rugby-league-players-from-christchurch", "south-island-rugby-league-team-players", "wakefield-trinity-players", "chorley-lynx-players"] description: "New Zealand international rugby league footballer and referee" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Whittaker" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary New Zealand international rugby league footballer and referee ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox rugby league biography"]

Field	Value
name	Aaron Whittaker
fullname	Aaron Mervyn Rutane Whittaker
position
birth_date
birth_place	Christchurch, New Zealand
height	163 cm
weight	80 kg
club1	Chorley Borough
year1start	1989
year1end	91
appearances1	40
tries1	13
goals1	0
fieldgoals1	1
points1	53
club2	Illawarra Steelers
year2start	1992
appearances2	2
tries2	0
goals2	0
fieldgoals2	0
points2	0
club3	Canterbury Cardinals
year3start	1994
year3end	95
appearances3	27
tries3	9
goals3	53
fieldgoals3	9
points3	151
club4	Wakefield Trinity
year4start	1994
year4end	95
tries4	7
goals4	13
fieldgoals4	1
points4	55
club5	Auckland Warriors
year5start	1997
year5end	98
appearances5	8
tries5	1
goals5	1
fieldgoals5	1
points5	7
teamA	Canterbury
yearAstart	1990
yearAend	99
appearancesA	17
triesA	13
goalsA	0
fieldgoalsA	0
pointsA	52
teamB	New Zealand
yearBstart	1993
yearBend	94
appearancesB	3
triesB	0
goalsB	0
fieldgoalsB	0
pointsB	0
teamC	South Island
yearCstart	2001
appearancesC	1
triesC	0
goalsC	0
fieldgoalsC	0
pointsC	0
retired	yes
source
::

|name = Aaron Whittaker |fullname = Aaron Mervyn Rutane Whittaker |image = |caption = |position = |birth_date = |birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand |height = 163 cm |weight = 80 kg |club1 = Chorley Borough |year1start = 1989 |year1end = 91 |appearances1 = 40 |tries1 = 13 |goals1 = 0 |fieldgoals1 = 1 |points1 = 53 |club2 = Illawarra Steelers |year2start = 1992 |year2end = |appearances2 = 2 |tries2 = 0 |goals2 = 0 |fieldgoals2 = 0 |points2 = 0 |club3 = Canterbury Cardinals |year3start = 1994 |year3end = 95 |appearances3 = 27 |tries3 = 9 |goals3 = 53 |fieldgoals3 = 9 |points3 = 151 |club4 = Wakefield Trinity |year4start = 1994 |year4end = 95 |appearances4 = |tries4 = 7 |goals4 = 13 |fieldgoals4 = 1 |points4 = 55 |club5 = Auckland Warriors |year5start = 1997 |year5end = 98 |appearances5 = 8 |tries5 = 1 |goals5 = 1 |fieldgoals5 = 1 |points5 = 7 |teamA = Canterbury |yearAstart = 1990 |yearAend = 99 |appearancesA = 17 |triesA = 13 |goalsA = 0 |fieldgoalsA = 0 |pointsA = 52 |teamB = New Zealand |yearBstart = 1993 |yearBend = 94 |appearancesB = 3 |triesB = 0 |goalsB = 0 |fieldgoalsB = 0 |pointsB = 0 |teamC = South Island |yearCstart = 2001 |yearCend = |appearancesC = 1 |triesC = 0 |goalsC = 0 |fieldgoalsC = 0 |pointsC = 0 |retired = yes |source =

Aaron Whittaker (born 9 July 1968) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative halfback, he played club football in Australia, England and New Zealand.

Early years

Whittaker grew up in Christchurch and was a Schoolboy Kiwi in 1983 before becoming part of the dominant Canterbury rugby league side of the early nineties. The side was coached by Frank Endacott and included future stars such as Whetu Taewa, Quentin Pongia and Brent Stuart. In Christchurch he played for two clubs: the Halswell Hornets and the Riccarton Knights.

His form was impressive enough to land a contract in the NSWRL Premiership, signing with the Illawarra Steelers in 1992. Whittaker played in three games for the club, including a try-scoring effort against the Great Britain touring side, returning to New Zealand at the end of the year.

In 1993, Whittaker was selected for the New Zealand national rugby league team. He went on to play thirteen games for the national side, although only three were test matches. During this time, he trained with Gary Freeman and Daryl Halligan and this allowed him to improve his halfback and goal kicking skills. In 1994, he was part of the Kiwis tour of Papua New Guinea. Between 1990 and 1994, he played in 17 games for Canterbury, scoring thirteen tries.

England

In 1994, he played for the Canterbury Cardinals in the new Lion Red Cup and at the half way stage was the competition's leading points scorer. As a result, he began to attract interest from overseas clubs and agreed to a mid-season transfer, joining Wakefield Trinity. He returned to the Cardinals in the English offseason and played in part of the 1995 Lion Red Cup.

Return to New Zealand

After a spell in England, he returned to New Zealand, signing for the Auckland Warriors. He played nine games for the Warriors in the 1997 and 1998 seasons

After being released by the Warriors, he returned to local football in Canterbury, playing for his old side the Haswell Hornets. In 2001, he was involved in the South Island team that played the touring French side.

Later years

In 2002, he was named the head trainer for the New Zealand 'A' sides tour of France and the United States, a position he retained for the sides 2003 tour of Australia, where he worked under former teammate Terry Hermansson.

He is now involved with the Currumbin Eagles JRL as a coach where he has steered numerous teams to finals contention. He also is involved with the Gold Coast Rugby League as a referee.

References

References

1. link. (2 April 2012 ''nzleague.co.nz'')
2. (31 December 2017). "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org.
3. "Aaron Whittaker".
4. Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987.
5. (12 September 2008). "Canterbury trampled over Auckland". [[The Press]].
6. (October 2016)
7. "Aaron Whittaker". NZ Warriors.
8. [https://archive.today/20070804161455/http://www2.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/res/nzl1994.htm New Zealand Tour of Australia and PNG 1994] ''The Vault''
9. ''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1995'', [[New Zealand Rugby Football League]], 1995. p.110
10. (13 April 2018). "Old boys alert at Mount Smart Stadium today".
11. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-17354230.html Panthers peaking at right time]{{dead link. (February 2019)
12. [https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/rugby-league/rapers-first-defeat-halts-wigan-march-672618.html Raper's first defeat halts Wigan march] ''The Independent'', 3 June 2001{{Dead link. (May 2019)
13. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7235/is_/ai_n29522591 Teams named for French opener] ''AAP Sports News'', 1 June 2001{{Dead link. (May 2019)
14. [https://archive.today/20120910171305/http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=17274 Hermansson gets NZ Appointment] ''rleague.com'', 8 July 2003.
15. [http://www.nzrl.co.nz/page/20021.html 2002 NZ A] {{webarchive. link. (2008-07-18 ''NZRL Official Site'')
16. "Currumbin Eagles JRL".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::