{"id":112213,"date":"2025-09-02T03:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T03:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/112213\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T03:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T03:00:14","slug":"nrl-2025-nrlw-zahara-temara-chante-temara-the-surprise-that-has-the-canberra-raiders-smiling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/112213\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2025: NRLW, Zahara Temara, Chante Temara; The surprise that has the Canberra Raiders smiling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raiders hooker Chant\u00e9 Temara has revealed how a surprise visit for sister Zahara’s 50th NRLW appearance by their grandparents helped keep Canberra’s finals hopes alive.<\/p>\n

Zahara, a pioneer of the women\u2019s game, notched up her milestone match with the poise, leadership and humility that has made her a cornerstone of every team she\u2019s been a part of by kicking a golden point field goal against Wests Tigers.<\/p>\n

The 17-16 win not only ended Canberra’s 2025 home ground losing streak, it marked a special day that will long live in the memory of the Temara family as Chant\u00e9 also played her 30th NRLW game.<\/p>\n


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Temara wins it for the Raiders!<\/p>\n

And behind the scenes, Chant\u00e9 was working on something much bigger than just a match plan – a surprise for her big sister that had the whole squad smiling and helped inspire their third consecutive win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was actually really nervous about the surprise.\u201d Chant\u00e9 admitted. “It wasn\u2019t just me, it was our management, Simaima (Taufa) and Zahara\u2019s partner, Seta<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m so grateful. All pretty much helped us sort it out and then when we surprised her, I was like, \u2018we got you good,\u2019 and she was like, \u2018yeah, you got me’.\u201d<\/p>\n

The surprise? Flying their grandparents from Rotorua, New Zealand, to Canberra for the big day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has always been special when we know that they are coming. Especially on my dad\u2019s side, my Nan and my Koro don\u2019t get to come to many of our games,” Temara told NRL.com.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve always had all of our other family, but I think this one was extra special.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n


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\n \"Zahara
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\n Zahara Temera’s New Zealand grandparents presented the Raiders playmaker with her jersey for last weekend’s 50th NRLW game after a surprise visit.
\n \u00a9Canberra Raiders
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And special it was. Not just because of the occasion, but because the Raiders delivered a clutch golden point victory capped by Zahara kicking the game-winning field goal in extra time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we set the goal at the start of the week to break the streak, the big streak, and I am so glad we did it on a big occasion like this one with Grace (Kemp) and Zahara\u2019s milestone games,” Chant\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m really grateful that I get to do it alongside her and the rest of the girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their on-field chemistry is hard to miss. But off the field, the sisterly dynamic is just as entertaining.<\/p>\n


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\n Chante Temara shared a milestone match with big sister Zahara in Canberra’s 17-16 win against Wests Tigers.
\n \u00a9Gregg Porteous\/NRL Photos
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\u201cIt has always been special for me, that I get to play with her. I did get into a bit of
trouble; I wasn\u2019t listening but that\u2019s okay. It happens.\u201d Chant\u00e9 laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t live with each other which is good because, you know, can\u2019t have too much of each other. So, it\u2019s just balance.<\/p>\n

“We see each other all the time at training and then I also annoy her off the field. I\u2019ll be like, \u2018I\u2019m coming over,\u2019 and she\u2019s like, \u2018oh my god, please don\u2019t.\u2019 But it\u2019s just been so good for us, and I think we have been playing good footy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a tense final stanza, it was a calm and composed Zahara who stepped up. However, Chant\u00e9, watching from the field, could feel the nerves.<\/p>\n

“I am glad I wasn\u2019t in the coaching box, I heard it was a bit hectic in there,” she said. “I\u2019ve heard from the girls that they were also nervous, but I think in that last set that we did and then Zahara kicked it, I think everyone just trusted each other.\u201d<\/p>\n


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\n Zahara Temara’s partner Seta (left) and sister Chante (right) heled organise for a surprise visit by their grandparent for her 50th NRLW match.
\n \u00a9Canberra Raiders
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That trust in each other, in the game plan and in their leaders is exactly what Taufa sees in her Raiders co-captain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWords can never describe how much Z means to me,\u201d an emotional Taufa said post-match.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t speak much, but you know when she\u2019s speaking everyone listens.<\/p>\n

“The way she has been able to instil confidence right across the board from our young players to even myself, the way she mentors our young girls, the way she makes you feel a part of her family.<\/p>\n

“She\u2019s always hard on herself, but I\u2019m blessed to see her get all the rewards
that she truly deserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cZ is a leader in her own right but to see her grow within the game, she was a young girl that was shy and wouldn\u2019t speak at all, to see her out there on the field directing us, making us believe, everything.<\/p>\n

“We believe everything Z says, she brings us together. It\u2019s bloody unreal.”<\/p>\n

In front of family, friends, and a proud home crowd, the Temara sisters shared a golden moment.<\/p>\n

But for Zahara, who prefers action to words, it was a quiet embrace with her grandparents after the game that said more than any speech could.<\/p>\n

Fifty games of excellence. One unforgettable surprise. And a golden point win to cap it off.<\/p>\n

Some days in rugby league are bigger than others. This one for the Tamera family, and for the Raiders was golden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Raiders hooker Chant\u00e9 Temara has revealed how a surprise visit for sister Zahara’s 50th NRLW appearance by their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-112213","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}