Brandon Wakeham (born 11 January 1999) is a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

international

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 or 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 previously played for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

and

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

Background

Wakeham was born in

Kogarah, New South Wales Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George area. L ...

, Australia. He is of Fijian and Lebanese descent. He played his junior rugby league for Chester Hill Hornets.

Playing career

2019

He made his international debut for

in their 56-14 victory vs

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

in the 2019 Pacific Test, where he scored 20 points in the match. In round 15 of 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 ...

, Wakeham made his NRL debut for the

off the interchange bench in his sides 14-12 win over the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

. Wakeham played majority of the game at five-eighth after

Kieran Foran Kieran Foran (born 13 July 1990) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL and New Zealand at international level. Foran previously played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, ...

left the field in the early stages due to injury.

2020

Wakeham played a total of 16 appearances for Canterbury in the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

. The club finished in 15th place on the table, only avoiding 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 ...

by for and against.

2021

In round 7 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, Wakeham became the first ever 18th man to take the field after Canterbury-Bankstown suffered a concussion which invoked the new 18th man rule which had been brought in by the NRL. Wakeham made a total of eight appearances as Canterbury claimed 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 ...

2022

On 1 June, Wakeham was suspended for four matches after being found guilty of eye gouging St. George Illawarra's

Tyrell Sloan Tyrell Sloan (born 3 June 2002) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and er for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL. Background Sloan was born in Campbelltown, New South Wales and is of Indigenous Aust ...

during a

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

game at

Belmore Sports Ground Belmore Sports Ground, formerly known as Belmore Oval, is a multi-purpose stadium in Belmore, New South Wales, Australia. The park covers and from 1951 has contained the Belmore Bowling Recreation Club green. It is close to Belmore railway sta ...

. He played a total of eight games for the club in the 2022 NRL season. Wakeham captained Canterbury's

team in their grand final loss to Penrith at the

Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, commercially known as CommBank Stadium, is a multi-purpose rectangular stadium in Parramatta, within the Greater Western Sydney region, approximately west of Sydney CBD. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium ...

2023

On 24 January, Wakeham signed a one-year deal to join the

ahead of the 2023 NRL season. Wakeham played a total of 15 games for the Wests Tigers in the 2023 NRL season with 2 tries and 8 try assists and kicking 27/33 goals as the club finished with the

for a second straight year.

Controversy

On 25 June 2021, Wakeham was one of three Canterbury players who were ordered to self-isolate after attending a

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

exposure site in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. The

NRL 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 ...

had ordered players of all 16 teams a week earlier not to attend any restaurants, clubs or bars in the Waverley Local Government area.

References

External links

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs profileFiji profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakeham, Brandon 1999 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of Fijian descent Australian people of Lebanese descent Fiji national rugby league team players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Wests Tigers players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Sydney Western Suburbs Magpies NSW Cup players