Alexander "AJ" Brimson (born 9 September 1998) is an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a and for the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL). He has played for

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...

and Australia 9s at international level. He made his debut in the NRL in 2018.

Background

Brimson was born in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia and attended high school on the Gold Coast at famous Rugby League school Keebra Park State High before signing with the

. He played his junior rugby league at Centenary Panthers. Brimson played predominantly touch football growing up making many rep teams. Brimson didn't make a Rugby League rep side until under 16's. He was an apprentice carpenter before he played his NRL debut in 2018.

2018

Brimson made his NRL debut for the Gold Coast at five-eighth in round 10 of the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

. In round 11 of the

against the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

, Brimson scored his first NRL try in the Gold Coast's 33–26 win at

Robina Stadium Robina Stadium, also known by its sponsored name Cbus Super Stadium, is a rectangular football stadium in the Gold Coast suburb of Robina, Queensland. The main usage is as the home ground to the National Rugby League's Gold Coast Titans; t ...

. Brimson made a total of 15 appearances for the Gold Coast in 2018 as the club finished 14th on the table.

2019

Brimson made a total of 21 appearances and scored 4 tries for the Gold Coast in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club endured a horror year on and off the field. During the halfway mark of the season, head coach

Garth Brennan Garth Brennan (born 18 February 1972) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who was the head coach of the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL. He previously held coaching positions at the Newcastle Knights and the Penrith Panthers ...

was sacked by the club after a string of poor results. The Gold Coast managed to win only 4 games for the entire season and finished last claiming the

Wooden Spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

. On 7 October, Brimson earned his first representative jersey as he was named for the Australian side in the

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member ...

. Later that day, Brimson was named on the bench for the U23 Junior Australian side.

2020

Brimson had an injury plagued 2020, where he had suffered a stress fracture in his back during pre-season, which then developed into a full blown broken back, putting him out for half of the season. He played nine games scoring seven tries in 2020, leading the Gold Coast to five straight wins to end the season, where his form granted him a spot in the Queensland Origin team. On 4 November 2020, Brimson made his

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

debut at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...

, scoring a try in Queensland's 18–14 win in game 1 of the series. Despite being able to play out the game, Brimson suffered a foot injury in game 1, making him unavailable for the remainder of the series.

2021

On 17 August, Brimson was ruled out for an indefinite period after suffering a hairline fracture to his jaw in the Gold Coast's round 22 loss against South Sydney.

2022

In round 24 of the 2022 NRL season, Brimson scored two tries for the Gold Coast in their 36-26 victory against

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. The win ensured that the Gold Coast would avoid the wooden spoon. Brimson played a total of 22 matches throughout the year as the club finished 13th on the table.

References

External links

Titans profile
1998 births Living people Australian rugby league players Gold Coast Titans players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Brisbane Rugby league fullbacks {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1990s-stub