Brendan Piakura (born 16 May 2002) is a Cook Islands 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 forward for the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

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).

Background

Piakura was born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

and raised on the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

. He is of

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

descent. He played his junior rugby league for the

Helensvale Hornets The Helensvale Hornets were formed in 1991 the Helensvale Hornets currently field teams in all junior grades of the Gold Coast Rugby League. The club is based at Robert Dalley Park, Helensvale, Queensland and the club's Gold Coast Titans Ambass ...

and attended

Coombabah State High School {{Unreferenced, date=October 2008 Coombabah State High School is a public secondary school located in the northern suburb of Coombabah on the Gold Coast, Queensland, in Australia. Backing onto the Coombabah Lakelands Conversation Area, The campus ...

and

Palm Beach Currumbin State High School Palm Beach Currumbin State High School (PBC High School or PBC) is an independent co-educational public school (government funded), in the Gold Coast suburb of Currumbin, Queensland, Australia. PBC is Queensland's southernmost coastal High sch ...

before being signed by the

Playing career

Early career

In 2018, Piakura represented the Queensland under-16 team. In 2019, he played for the

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two non-Queensland teams to play in the Queensland Cup, along with the ...

in the

Mal Meninga Cup The Mal Meninga Cup, known as the Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup due to sponsorship, is a junior rugby league football competition based in Queensland, played between teams made up of players aged under 18. The competition, administered by the Q ...

, starting at second row in their state and national finals wins. In June 2019, he represented the Queensland under-18 team. In September 2019, he represented the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

in their 36–20 win over the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

2021

Piakura began the season playing for the

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

in the Queensland Cup. On 15 April, he re-signed with the Brisbane club until the end of the 2024 season. In Round 24 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 ...

, Piakura made his NRL debut for Brisbane in a loss to 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 ...

. He was sin-binned six minutes into his debut for a late tackle on Cronulla halfback

Braydon Trindall Braydon Trindall (born 11 July 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League (NRL). Background Born in Wee Waa, New South Wales, Trindall, who is ...

, and was later suspended for two games. Piakura, once completing his two match suspension, played for

in the Queensland cup finals, playing in wins over

and

Burleigh Bears The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. Since their admission to the competition in 1997, the ...

. Piakura failed a HIA against

in the preliminary final five minutes into the game and missed the Grand Final win over

Wynnum Manly Seagulls The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Since ...

the following week as a result of failing the HIA.

2022

Piakura had an injury disrupted season with a calf injury and concussions forcing Piakura to miss games across the year limiting Piakura to one NRL game for the

in Round 25 in a 22–12 loss against

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

. Piakura played in

16–10 victory over the

Redcliffe Dolphins The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...

in the 2022 Queensland Cup Grand Final, starting in the second-row.

2023

In round 15 of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...

, Piakura scored his first NRL try in a 24–20 win over 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 ...

. He played a total of 13 games for Brisbane in the

. He played in Brisbane's 26-24 loss against Penrith in the

2023 NRL Grand Final The 2023 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2023 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the Brisbane Broncos on Sunday the 1st of October at Accor Stadi ...

References

External links

Brisbane Broncos profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piakura, Brendan 2002 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of Cook Island descent Brisbane Broncos players Cook Islands national rugby league team players Cook Island rugby league players Norths Devils players Rugby league players from Newcastle, New South Wales Rugby league second-rows