Krystian Mapapalangi

Krystian Mapapalangi (born 4 November 2002) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.

He has previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League.

Background Mapapalangi was born in Burwood, New South Wales. He is of Tongan descent.

Playing career Early years Mapapalangi played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs' Harold Matthews Cup team in 2018 and the S. G. Ball Cup side in 2019. In 2020, he joined the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles' S. G. Ball Cup team.

2022 Ahead of the 2022 season, Mapapalangi signed a 2-year contract to be a development player with the Knights' NRL squad. In August, his contract was extended until the end of 2024 and upgraded into the top 30 squad. In round 23 of the 2022 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Knights against the Canberra Raiders.

2025 On 2 April, Mapapalangi had signed a train and trial contract with the Wests Tigers.

2026 On 22 January, Castleford Tigers announced the signing of Mapapalangi on a two-year deal. He made his debut against Doncaster in the Challenge Cup, and was named Tigers Man of the Match in the opening round defeat against Wigan Warriors. In round 2, he scored his first try and provided an assist for his winger Jason Qareqare against Toulouse Olympique. Mapapalangi failed a head injury assessment against St Helens in the cup and was thus ruled out for round 5, due to a late high tackle for which Kyle Feldt received a three-match ban. He provided three try assists for Qareqare against Bradford Bulls in round 6, earning praise for a "sublime performance". After scoring two tries to lead Castleford to victory against Wigan in round 8, head coach Ryan Carr reiterated his hope to agree a long-term contract with Mapapalangi.

Statistics

+ Appearances and points in all competitions by year Club Season Tier Newcastle Knights 2022 NRL 2 0 0 0 0 2024 NRL 4 1 0 0 4 Total 6 1 0 0 4 2021 NSW Cup 2 0 0 0 0 2022 NSW Cup 10 1 2 0 8 2023 NSW Cup 1 1 0 0 4 2024 NSW Cup 10 4 0 0 16 Total 23 6 2 0 28 2025 NRL 0 0 0 0 0 2025 NSW Cup 15 5 0 0 20 2026 Super League 15 8 0 0 32 Career total 59 20 2 0 84