Karawana made his first grade debut for the Newcastle Knights during the Round 9 encounter with the New Zealand Warriors on 12 May 2007. Karawana pushed his way into the first grade team in 2009 and was used off the interchange bench as a Utility player.
After the conclusion of the 2011 season, Karawana was released by Newcastle outfit.[2]
He returned to New Zealand in 2012 to play Rugby sevens for Wellington in the national competition. He was nicknamed by his teammates "Wainui SBW", due to his similar propensity to offload the ball in the tackle.[3]