[6] He then joined the New Zealand Navy and played for the Northcote Tigers and North Harbour Sea Eagles before becoming an Auckland Warriors junior in 1994.

As a result, the NRL fined Canterbury $500,000 and stripped them of all their 37 competition points meaning that the club would finish the 2002 season with the wooden spoon.

Rauhihi moved to England after the 2005 grand final loss, joining the Warrington Wolves where he was given the number 10 jersey.

In 1996 Rauhihi played for the New Zealand Māori side that toured PNG and then competed in the Pacific Challenge Series.

Between 2002 and 2005 he played in seventeen matches for the New Zealand national rugby league team, including captaining the side in the 2004 Tr-nations series due to an injury to Ruben Wiki.

In 2023, Rauhihi participated in season 3 of Match Fit, where former rugby players return to play against the Australian counterparts.