Brad Drew (born 25 August 1975) is an Australian former professional

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 played in the 1990s and 2000s. A City New South Wales representative

hooker Hooker may refer to: People * Hooker (surname) Places Antarctica * Mount Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (South Shetland Islands) New Zealand * Hooker River * Mount Hooker (New Zealand) in the Southern Alps * Hoo ...

, he played in Australia for Penrith, Parramatta and

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

and in England for

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

and

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

Playing career

Drew made his first grade debut for Penrith in Round 19 1993 against Balmain at

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney S ...

. Drew made no first grade appearances for three years before making his next appearances in 1996. It wasn't later in his Penrith career that Drew featured more prominently for the team. In 2000, Drew played for Penrith in their semi final defeat against Parramatta. This was Drew's last game for Penrith and he signed for Parramatta in the aftermath. Drew played at hooker for the Parramatta Eels in their 2001 NRL grand final loss to the Newcastle Knights. In the 2002 season, Drew played for Parramatta in their finals loss against the Brisbane Broncos. In 2003, Drew signed for Canberra. In the 2003 season, Canberra finished in 4th place on the table. Drew played in their elimination finals loss against New Zealand. The following year in 2004, Canberra again made the finals and Drew played in their finals defeat against the Sydney Roosters. Drew later signed to play in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

for English club Huddersfield Giants. He played for Huddersfield in the

2006 Challenge Cup The 2006 Challenge Cup (also known as the Powergen Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Powergen) was the 105th tournament played for rugby league's Challenge Cup. It features teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, France ...

Final at against St. Helens but the Giants lost 12–42. Drew was the fitness conditioner for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

, having been a critical part of the coaching and management staff for a number of years. After an impressive stint at rivals

, Drew re-signed for Huddersfield Giants in September 2009.

Coaching career

In 2016, Drew became manager of Ron Massey Cup team The St Mary's Saints. In his first year of management, Drew took St Mary's to The Ron Massey Cup grand final but fell short to The Mount Pritchard Mounties. In 2017, St Mary's finished as minor premiers in The Ron Massey Cup but were defeated by The

Auburn Warriors The Auburn Warriors Rugby League Football Club were an Australian rugby league football club based in Auburn, New South Wales formed in 1953. They played in the NSW Ron Massey Cup competition and in Sydney's A-Grade competitions. 2017 In The 2 ...

in the preliminary final.

After playing career

In 2014, Brad Drew became a Real Estate Agent in the Lower Blue Mountains region. Brad is a local 'card shark' and is often seen hustling punters of cash by flipping coins, throwing darts, around the pool table and shuffling from the bottom of the deck.

Playing career

Coaching career

After playing career

References

Further reading