Nene Macdonald

Nene Macdonald (born 11 May 1994) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger or centre for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League and Papua New Guinea at international level.

Nene Macdonald
Personal information
Full nameBosam Nene Macdonald[1]
Born (1994-05-11) 11 May 1994
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Height193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight102 kg (16 st 1 lb)
Playing information
PositionWing, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 Sydney Roosters 11 3 0 0 12
2015–16 Gold Coast Titans 34 14 0 0 56
2017–18 St. George Illawarra 46 16 0 0 64
2019 North Qld Cowboys 5 1 0 0 4
2020 Cronulla Sharks 2 1 0 0 4
2022 Leigh Centurions 27 27 0 0 108
2023 Leeds Rhinos 20 2 0 0 8
2024– Salford Red Devils 0 0 0 0 0
Total 145 64 0 0 256
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013– Papua New Guinea 14 9 0 0 20
2016–17 World All Stars 2 1 0 0 4
Source: [2]
As of 16 October 2023

He previously played for the Sydney Roosters, Gold Coast Titans, St George Illawarra Dragons, North Queensland Cowboys and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League, the Northern Pride RLFC and the Norths Devils in the Intrust Super Cup, the Wyong Roos and the Newtown Jets in the NSW Cup and the World All Stars at representative level.

Background

Born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Macdonald moved to Queensland, Australia at a young age and played his junior football for the Cairns Brothers, before being signed by the Gold Coast Titans.

In October 2005, Macdonald played for the Australian Schoolboys.[3][4]

Playing career

2012

In 2012, he joined the Sydney Roosters. He played for the Roosters' NYC team in 2012 and 2013.[5] In 2013 and 2014, he played for the Queensland Under-20s team.[6][7] In 2013, he played for Papua New Guinea against the Prime Minister's XIII team, scoring a try.[8]

2013
Macdonald playing for the Queensland under 20s side in 2013

In 2013, Macdonald was selected in the Papua New Guinea squad for the 2013 World Cup.[9] He played in 3 matches and scored three tries and a field goal in Papua New Guinea's 9-8 defeat by France.[10]

2014

On 11 February 2014, Macdonald was selected in the Roosters' inaugural 2014 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[11] In Round 11 of the 2014 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Roosters against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on the wing and scored a try in the Roosters' 32-12 win at ANZ Stadium.[12][13] He finished his debut year in the NRL having played 7 games and scoring 3 tries for the Roosters. On 2 September 2014, he was named on the wing in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year.[14]

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Macdonald again played for the Roosters' in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[15] On 2 May, he played for Papua New Guinea against Fiji in the 2015 Melanesian Cup, playing on the wing in the Papua New Guinea's 22-10 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.[16][17]

Macdonald playing for the Wyong Roos in 2015

On 16 June, he signed a 1+1⁄2-year contract with the Gold Coast Titans mid-season effective immediately.[18][19] He made his club debut for the Titans in Round 15 against the New Zealand Warriors, playing at centre in the Titans' 36-14 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.[20][21] In his next match in Round 16 against his former club the Sydney Roosters, he scored his first try for the Titans in their 20-10 loss at Central Coast Stadium.[22] He finished off the 2015 season having played in 4 matches for the Roosters and 11 matches for the Titans, scoring 4 tries.[23] On 15 December, he was named on interchange bench for the World All Stars to play against the Indigenous All Stars on 16 February 2016.[24]

2016

On 12 January, Macdonald was selected in the QAS Emerging Maroons squad.[25] In February, he played for the Titans in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines.[26] On 13 February, he played for the World All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars in the 2016 All Stars match, playing on the wing in his team's 12-8 win at Suncorp Stadium.[27][28] On 7 May, he played for Papua New Guinea against Fiji in the 2016 Melanesian Cup, playing at centre and scoring a try in Papua New Guinea's 24-22 win at Parramatta Stadium.[29] In August, he signed a 3-year contract with the St George Illawarra Dragons starting in 2017.[30][31] He finished the 2016 season having played in 23 matches and scoring 10 tries in his last year with the Titans.[32]

2017

In February 2017, Macdonald was named in the Dragons 2017 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[33] On 10 February 2017, Macdonald played for the World All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars in the 2017 All Stars match, playing on the wing and scoring a try in the 34-8 loss at Hunter Stadium.[34] In Round 1 of the 2017 NRL season, Macdonald made his club debut for the St George Illawarra Dragons against the Penrith Panthers, playing on the wing in the 42-10 win at Jubilee Oval.[35]

Macdonald played for Papua New Guinea in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

2018

On 9 October, Macdonald signed a three-year contract with the North Queensland Cowboys starting in 2019.[36]

2019

In March, Macdonald was dropped from a pre-season trial game against the Melbourne Storm for being late to training.[37]

In round 1 of the 2019 NRL season, Macdonald made his debut for North Queensland, scoring a try in their 24–12 victory over his former club, the St George Illawarra Dragons.[38] In round 5, he suffered a fracture and dislocation of his ankle in the club's 12–18 defeat by the Melbourne Storm.[39]

On 20 June, he was involved in a traffic incident, in which a hired car leased in his name was found damaged and abandoned on Magnetic Island.[40][41] On 5 July, he was released by North Queensland.[42]

2020

On 11 June, Macdonald signed a contract to join Cronulla-Sutherland after twelve months out of the game.[43]

Macdonald made his debut for Cronulla-Sutherland in round 9 against Penrith and scored a try as Cronulla were beaten 56-24 at Kogarah Oval.[44]

2021

Macdonald joined the Norths Devils and played four games for the Queensland Cup club, including their 16-10 grand final win over the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.[45]

On 5 November, he signed a train and trial deal with Brisbane worth $1000 a week.[46]

On 29 November, it was announced that Macdonald had signed to play for Leigh in the Betfred Championship under Leigh' Papua New Guinean head coach Adrian Lam.[47]

2022

In round 1 of the 2022 Championship season, MacDonald scored a hat-trick on his club debut for Leigh in their 50-4 victory over Whitehaven R.L.F.C.[48] On 28 May, Macdonald played for Leigh in their 2022 RFL 1895 Cup final victory over Featherstone. On 10 July, Macdonald scored a hat-trick in Leigh's 66-0 victory over Workington Town.[49] On 3 October 2022, Macdonald played for Leigh in their Million Pound Game victory over Batley which saw the club promoted back to the Super League. On 1 December 2022, Leeds announced that Macdonald had joined from Leigh for the 2023 season with a pre season friendly being announced as part of the deal.[50]

2023

In round 2 of the 2023 Super League season, Macdonald made his club debut for Leeds in their 22-18 loss against Hull F.C.[51] Macdonald played a total of 19 games for Leeds in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished 8th on the table and missed the playoffs.[52] On 16 October 2023 it was reported that he had signed a four-year deal to join Salford ahead of the 2024 season.[53]

Statistics

NRL
Statistics are correct as of round 9 of the 2020 season[54]
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2014 Sydney Roosters 730—012
2015 400—00
2015 Gold Coast 1140—016
2016 23100—040
2017 St George Illawarra 2360—024
2018 23100—040
2019 North Queensland 510—04
2020 Cronulla 110—04
2022 Leigh 27 27 108
2023 Leeds Rhinos 20 2 8
2024 Salford
Career totals 145 64 0 — 0 256

International
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2013 Papua New Guinea 310—04
2015 Papua New Guinea 100—00
2016 Papua New Guinea 110—04
2017 Papua New Guinea 430—012
2021 Papua New Guinea 000—00
Career totals 9 5 0 — 0 20

References
  1. Mascord, Steve (1 February 2015). "Auckland could one day warrant NRL round of its own, promoters say". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  2. "Nene MacDonald - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  3. Riddell, Mark (17 July 2011). "Here's a tip: Keep an eye on these young boys". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  4. "AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLBOYS 2nd Test Team". Our Footy Team. 8 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  8. "PM's XIII beat PNG 50-10 in league match". SBS News. SBS Australia. Australian Associated Press. 29 September 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  9. "Papua New Guinea - Nene McDonald". Rugby League World Cup 2013. Rugby League International Federation Ltd. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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