Michael Chee-Kam

Michael Chee-Kam (born 26 February 1992) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward or centre for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.

Michael Chee Kam
Personal information
Full nameMichael Chee-Kam
Born (1992-02-26) 26 February 1992
Auckland, New Zealand
Height192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 Manly-Warringah 5 0 0 0 0
2016–21 Wests Tigers 89 11 0 0 44
2022– South Sydney 22 1 0 0 4
Total 116 12 0 0 48
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018–19 Samoa 3 0 0 0 0
2019 Samoa 9s 4 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 1 September 2023

He previously played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League.[1]

Background

Chee-Kam was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and is of Samoan and Chinese descent.[2]

An alumnus of Tamaki College, he played his junior rugby league for the Mount Wellington Warriors, before being signed by the Melbourne Storm.[3]

Playing career

Early career

After playing in the lower grades at the Melbourne Storm, Chee-Kam joined the Canberra Raiders in 2010.[4] From 2010 to 2012, he played for the Raiders' National Youth Competition (NYC) team.[5] In November and December 2010, he played for the Australian Schoolboys.[6][7] In May 2012, he signed a three-year contract with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles starting in 2013.[8] On 21 August 2012, he was named at second-row in the 2012 NYC Team of the Year.[9]

Chee-Kam playing for the Sea Eagles in 2014

2014

In Round 26 of the 2014 NRL season, Chee-Kam made his National Rugby League debut for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles against the North Queensland Cowboys.[10][11]

2015

On 3 August 2015, after limited opportunities with Manly-Warringah, Chee-Kam signed a one-year contract with the Wests Tigers starting in 2016.[12] After being told he was unwanted by Manly, he played 4 games for them towards the end of the season. He said, "I didn't think they were going to give me those games that I played at the end after they told me that, so I was pretty happy with those couple of games that I got. I used that to build my confidence and get some experience playing at the top level."[13]

2016

In Round 9, Chee-Kam made his Tigers debut against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.[14][15] On 25 May, he re-signed with the Tigers on a one-year contract.[16]

2017

With Tim Simona de-registered by the NRL and Jamal Idris lacking the fitness to play 80 minutes, Chee-Kam was named at centre for the opening rounds of the season. He said, "I remember when I was on the fringes and seeing a couple of boys come off I would get a little opportunity and you have to make the most of it. I'm trying to feed off that. This is a small opportunity to hold this position and I need to make the most of it."[17]

In April, Chee-Kam extended his contract to the end of the 2019 season, saying, "I feel like I've made a family here, I'm really close with all the boys and have made some great friendships and it's exciting to know I'll be here for a while longer. I want this to be my last club and I'm really grateful and blessed to have been given this opportunity."[18] With further injuries to players (including centre Moses Suli), Chee-Kam remained in first grade for most of the season, playing 22 games. In round 13, he scored his first try in the match against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

2018

Chee-Kam was again a regular in first grade in 2018, mostly playing from the bench. Towards the end of the season, he spent some time in the starting team. Playing on the left age after an injury to Chris Lawrence, he was averaging 120 metres with the ball and 34 tackles per game in this period.[19]

2019

In Round 5 against the Brisbane Broncos, Chee-Kam scored the match winning try for the Tigers as they won the game 22-16 at Suncorp Stadium. He had run from in-field with a minute remaining and proceeded to beat five Brisbane players to score next to the posts.[20] In Round 15 against South Sydney, Chee-Kam scored the winning try for Wests in the final three minutes of the game in the club's 14-9 victory at the new Western Sydney Stadium.[21] Chee-Kam played 22 games for Wests in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished ninth on the table and missed out on the finals. Wests had the chance to finish as high as seventh on the table but lost their final game of the season against Cronulla at Leichhardt Oval.[22][23][24]

2020

In round 11 against Parramatta, Chee-Kam was taken from the field on a stretcher and sent to hospital after being knocked out attempting to tackle one of the Parramatta players. Chee Kam was then seen shaking on the ground after apparently suffering a seizure. Wests would go on to lose the match 26-16 at Bankwest Stadium.[25] Chee-Kam made a total of nine appearances for the club as they finished 11th on the table and missed the finals.[26]

2021

On 6 September, Chee Kam was one of five players who were released by the Wests Tigers club. On 14 October, Chee-Kam signed a one-year deal with South Sydney.[27][28]

2022

Chee-Kam was limited to only six games for South Sydney in the 2022 NRL season. He played in all three of the clubs finals matches however, as they reached the preliminary final for a fifth straight season, losing to eventual premiers Penrith 32-12, which was Chee Kam’s 100th NRL game.[29]

2023

In round 3 of the 2023 NRL season, Chee-Kam was sent to the sin bin during South Sydney's 20-18 loss against arch-rivals the Sydney Roosters.[30] Chee-Kam played a total of 16 games throughout the year as South Sydney finished 9th on the table and missed the finals.[31]

Statistics

*stats correct as of round 12 2023 [32]

Year Team Games Tries Pts
2014 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1
2015 4
2016 Wests Tigers 5
2017 22 1 4
2018 22 3 12
2019 22 6 24
2020 9
2021 9 1 4
2022 South Sydney Rabbitohs 6
2023 10
Totals 110 11 44

Assault charge

On 3 January 2019, Chee-Kam along with another man was charged by police for assaulting an Uber driver at Bondi Beach in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. The alleged incident happened on Sunday 30 December 2018 at 10:30PM. Chee-Kam and the other man allegedly punched the driver multiple times through the driver's side window.[33]

On 1 May 2019, Chee-Kam pleaded guilty to common assault. He was subsequently suspended for two matches by Wests Tigers and fined an undisclosed amount.[34]

References
  1. "Michael Chee Kam - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 26 February 1992. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. "China Rugby League". Leagueoftitans.com.au. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  3. "Coach Michael Maguire hails Tigers effort against Eels". Stuff. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  4. Lee Gaskin (2 May 2012). "Sea Eagles swoop on young Raiders star for three years". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  5. "C". NYC DATABASE. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  6. "2010 Australian Schoolboys Team Announced - Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". Foxsportspulse.com. 25 June 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  7. "The Greenhouse • View topic - Wighton and Chee-Kam make Australian Schoolboys". Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  8. "Sea Eagles swoop on young Raiders star for three years". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  9. "Toyota Cup Team of the Year". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League - NRL.com. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  10. "LATE MAIL: Stewart struck down by injury". Sea Eagles. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  11. "Updated Team Lists: Round 26". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League - NRL.com. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  12. "Wests Tigers strengthen 2016 squad". NRL - Zero Tackle. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  13. Chris Kennedy (23 December 2015). "Chee Kam spies opportunity in youth". nrl.com.
  14. "Updated team lists: Rabbitohs v Tigers". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  15. NRL. "Late Changes: NRL Round 9 vs. Rabbitohs - Tigers". Weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  16. "Wests Tigers re-sign Michael Chee Kam". Zero Tackle. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  17. Adam Pengilly. "Wests Tigers centre Michael Chee-Kam benefits from Tim Simona's deregistration". Sydney Morning Herald.
  18. Joshua Thomas. "Tigers re-sign Australian former Schoolboy". Sporting News.
  19. Dan Talintyre (14 August 2018). "Chee Kam enjoying good form and finals chance". weststigers.com.au.
  20. "Wife's faith prepared Chee Kam for magic moment". www.nrl.com. 12 April 2019.
  21. "Michael Chee Kam solo try sinks Bunnies for Tigers win; George Burgess in hot water over eye gouge". Fox Sports. 27 June 2019.
  22. "Ruled out, Farah gets last-minute call-up after warm-up injury". NRL. 8 September 2019.
  23. "Robbie Farah's cryptic chat with Paul Gallen ahead of Leichhardt Oval showdown". WWOS.
  24. "Cronulla Sharks ruin fairytale for Wests Tigers' Robbie Farah". ESPN. 8 September 2019.
  25. "Parramatta Eels beat Wests Tigers". ABC News. 23 July 2020.
  26. "Wests Tigers: 2020 season by the numbers". www.nrl.com.
  27. "Joey Leilua fearing for NRL career as Wests Tigers see off enigmatic centre, four teammates". wwos.nine.com.au.
  28. "Michael Chee Kam joins South Sydney Rabbitohs". www.sportingnews.com.
  29. "Penrith Panthers defeat South Sydney Rabbitohs 32-12 to qualify for third straight NRL grand final". www.abc.net.au.
  30. "Sydney Roosters triumph over Rabbitohs 20-18 in tense NRL battle, Dolphins stay unbeaten with 36-20 win over Newcastle Knights". www.abc.net.au.
  31. "'Absolute madness': Potential Latrell switch slammed as a 'band aid' for broken Bunnies". www.foxsports.com.au.
  32. https://www.nrl.com/players/nrl-premiership/south-sydney-rabbitohs/michael-chee-kam/
  33. "Chee Kam charged over assault of uber driver". www.smh.com.au. 3 January 2019.
  34. "Michael Chee Kam gets two-game NRL ban from Tigers". www.foxsports.com.au. May 2019.
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