Brenko Lee

Brenko Lee (born 10 October 1995) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a centre and winger in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Brenko Lee
Lee in 2017
Personal information
Born (1995-10-10) 10 October 1995
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Height190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight104 kg (16 st 5 lb)
Playing information
PositionCentre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–16 Canberra Raiders 15 12 0 0 48
2017 Canterbury Bulldogs 18 3 0 0 12
2018–19 Gold Coast Titans 20 5 0 0 20
2020–21 Melbourne Storm 14 4 0 0 16
2022 Brisbane Broncos 8 1 0 0 4
2023 Dolphins 13 0 0 0 0
Total 88 25 0 0 100
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2017 Tonga 1 0 0 0 0
2020 Queensland 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 3 September 2023

Lee has played for the Dolphins, Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Melbourne Storm and the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL. He has played for Queensland in the State of Origin series, and is notable for being undefeated in the series. He is also a NRL premiership winning player of 2020.

Early life

Lee was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He is of Tongan and Indigenous descent. Lee is the cousin of Redcliffe Dolphins rugby league player Edrick Lee, NBA basketball player Patty Mills and NBL basketball player Nathan Jawai. Edrick's uncle is former Olympian basketballer Danny Morseu, the second Indigenous Australian to represent Australia at the Olympics in basketball.[2] Edrick's great uncle is Indigenous land rights activist Eddie Mabo.[3]

Lee attended school at Marsden State High School, Logan City and played his junior rugby league for the Logan Brothers, before being signed by the Canberra Raiders.

Playing career

Early career

From 2013 to 2015, Lee played for the Canberra Raiders' NYC team.[4][5] On 20 April 2013, he played for the Queensland under-20s team against the New South Wales under-20s team.[6][7] On 5 December 2013, he re-signed with the Canberra Raiders on a three-year contract.[8][9][10]

2014

On 3 May, Lee again played for the Queensland Under-20s team against the New South Wales under-20s team.[11] In Round 15 of the 2014 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Raiders against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on the wing in the Raiders' 22–14 loss at Canberra Stadium.[12][13][14] In the next round, against the Wests Tigers, he scored his first and second tries in the NRL, in Canberra's 19–18 loss at Leichhardt Oval.[15][16] After Round 21, after the Raiders' 54–18 loss to New Zealand Warriors at Canberra Stadium, his year was over as he struggled with a hamstring injury.[17][18] He finished his debut year in the NRL having played in 4 matches and scoring 3 tries.[19]

Lee playing for the Mount Pritchard Mounties

2015

On 2 May, Lee played for the Junior Kangaroos against Junior Kiwis.[20] On 11 September, he was named in the 58-man Tonga squad to play the Cook Islands on 17 October.[21]

2017

In October 2016, Lee signed a two-year contract with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs starting in 2017.[22][23]

On 3 March 2017, Lee made his debut for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs against the Melbourne Storm at Belmore Sports Ground.[24]

Lee made his international debut for Mate Ma'a Tonga in the 2017 Pacific Rugby League Tests against Fiji Bati.

In December 2017, Lee signed a one-year contract with the Gold Coast for the 2018 NRL season.

2018

Lee made 14 appearances for the Gold Coast in 2018 and scored 3 tries as the club struggled on the field finishing 14th at the end of the season.[25]

2019

Lee was limited to 6 appearances for the Gold Coast in the 2019 NRL season as the club endured a horror season winning 4 games all year and finished last on the table claiming the wooden spoon.[26][27]

On 5 December 2019, after failing to be re-signed by the Gold Coast, it was revealed that Lee had signed on with Queensland Cup outfit, the Easts Tigers, for the 2020 season.[28]

2020

Lee signed with the Melbourne Storm and he featured in the 2020 NRL Nines hosted at Perth, Australia.

In round 4 of the 2020 season, Lee made his Melbourne Storm debut against the Rabbitohs at AAMI Park. Lee played centre in the Storm's 2020 NRL Grand Final over the Penrith Panthers in a 26–20 win.

He was selected for the Queensland Maroons squad for the 2020 State of Origin series.

2021

On 28 May 2021, Lee signed a two-year contract to join the Brisbane Broncos to start in 2022.[29] Restricted by injuries, Lee only made four appearances for Brisbane Tigers in the 2021 Queensland Cup, not making it back to the Broncos squad.

2022

In June, Lee signed a two-year deal to join the newly admitted Dolphins (NRL) team ahead of the 2023 NRL season.[30]

2023

In round 1 of the 2023 NRL season, Lee made his club debut for the Dolphins in their inaugural game in the national competition, defeating the Sydney Roosters 28–18 at Suncorp Stadium. At the end of the season, Lee's departure from the club was announced.[31]

References
  1. "Brenko Lee – Career Stats & Summary". Rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  2. Davis, Sam (27 July 2012). "Former Boomer remembers Moscow Olympics". ABC.net.au. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  3. Jawai,Nate (31 July 2020). "The Better I Got in Sports, the Worse the Racism Got". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  4. "L". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  5. "NYC Team List: Raiders v Rabbitohs". Raiders. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  6. "Under 20's Origin squads named". NRL.com. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  7. "Holden U/20s State of Origin: Queensland U/20s v NSW U/20s – NRL Game Development – South East Queensland – FOX SPORTS PULSE". SportingPulse. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  8. "Lee re-signs with the Raiders until end of 2016 | NRL". Zero Tackle. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  9. "Brenko Lee Re-signs with the Raiders Until End of 2016". Raiders.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  10. "Canberra Raiders' Brenko Lee puts aside homesick blues". Canberra Times. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  11. "Queensland name Under-20s Origin team". NRL.com. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  12. "NRL 2014 – Round 15". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  13. "Late Mail : Raiders v Bulldogs". Raiders.com.au. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  14. "Canterbury Bulldogs prove too strong for the struggling Canberra Raiders". Dailytelegaph.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  15. "NRL 2014 – Round 16". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  16. "Wests Tigers edge out Canberra Raiders in spiteful Campbelltown clash". Canberra Times. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  17. Jon Tuxworth (14 July 2014). "Raiders unlikely to lobby NRL for salary cap relief". Canberratimes.com.au. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  18. "Canberra Raiders hit new low with 54–18 loss to New Zealand Warriors at GIO Stadium". Dailytelegaph.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  19. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  20. "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  21. "Tonga Squad Announced". Rugby League Week. 11 September 2015. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  22. Bulldogs.com.au (21 August 2016). "Bulldogs announce six new faces for 2017". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  23. "Brenko Lee seeks opportunity with Bulldogs move". Zero Tackle. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  24. "Storm exact Belmore revenge in big wet". NRL. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  25. "Gold Coast Titans 2018 season review". NRL.com. 18 October 2018.
  26. "Melbourne Storm defeat Gold Coast Titans after scare". News.com.au.
  27. "Brenko Lee 2019". Rugby League Project.
  28. "Tigers boost squad with nrl experienced signing". www.qrl.com.au. 4 December 2019.
  29. "Origin Centre Brenko Lee Joins Broncos". broncos.com.au. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  30. "Dolphins Sign Former Origin Centre Brenko Lee for 2023 NRL Squad". www.seriousaboutrl.com. 30 June 2022.
  31. "2023 NRL Signings Tracker: Alamoti, Schneider join Penrith". www.nrl.com.
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