Marly Bitungane
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Emarly Bitungane | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 October 2002 Tanzania[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [2] As of 10 August 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Emarly Bitungane (born 27 October 2002) is a Tanzanian-born rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Background
[edit]Bitungane was born in Tanzania to Burundian parents. In 2007 he moved to Australia, growing up in Woodridge, Queensland.[3][4]
He played his junior rugby league for Logan Brothers and attended Woodridge State High School and St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace.[5]
Playing career
[edit]Early career
[edit]In 2019 and 2020, Bitungane played for the Easts Tigers in the Mal Meninga Cup.[6][7]
In 2021, after playing for the Tigers in the Hastings Deering Colts and spending a year in the Melbourne Storm's junior system, Bitungane signed with the North Queensland Cowboys, joining their Young Guns program.[8][9] In 2022, he played for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Colts competition, playing in their Grand Final win over the Redcliffe Dolphins.[10]
In 2023, Bitungane moved up to the Queensland Cup, playing nine games for Townsville. On 24 October 2023, he was upgrade to an NRL development contract with the Cowboys.[11] In 2024, he moved to the Northern Pride, playing 19 games.[12]
2025
[edit]In Round 22 of the 2025 NRL season, Bitungane made his NRL debut against the Cronulla Sharks.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ "Cowboys debutant to make history". The Sporting News. 30 July 2025.
- ^ Rugby League Project
- ^ "Emarly Bitungane's rugby league journey". NRL. 9 February 2025.
- ^ "Get to know our young players ahead of Sunday's trial". NQ Cowboys. 15 February 2024.
- ^ "St Joseph's Gregory Terrace prepare for 2020 GPS First XV rugby season". Courier Mail. 3 August 2020.
- ^ "Round 4 Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup teams". QRL. 26 March 2019.
- ^ "2020 QRL U18 Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup Round 1". LeagueUnlimited. 15 March 2020.
- ^ "Hastings Deering Colts U21 TEAMS - 2021 Round 11". LeagueUnlimited. 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Marly Bitungane to make NRL debut for North Queensland Cowboys after fleeing Tanzania as a refugee". Courier Mail. 3 August 2025.
- ^ "Eleven Cowboys contracted players named for U21s Grand Final". NQ Cowboys. 22 September 2022.
- ^ "Cowboys promote seven from Pathways program to NRL squad for 2024". NQ Cowboys. 24 October 2023.
- ^ "Five Cowboys named for Pride's Prelim Final". NQ Cowboys. 13 September 2024.
- ^ "Cowboys NRL team list: Round 22 v Sharks". NQ Cowboys. 29 July 2025.
External links
[edit]- 2002 births
- Living people
- Rugby league players from Brisbane
- North Queensland Cowboys players
- Rugby league props
- Townsville Blackhawks players
- Northern Pride RLFC players
- 21st-century Australian sportsmen
- 21st-century Tanzanian sportsmen
- Tanzanian emigrants to Australia
- Tanzanian people of Burundian descent
- Australian people of Burundian descent