Jamayne Isaako (born 5 June 1996) is a New Zealand 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 11 ...

footballer who plays as a er and for the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

in the NRL. He previously played 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 c ...

and 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 ...

. He has played for both

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at international level.

Background

Isaako was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand, and is of Samoan and Tokelau descent. He played his junior rugby league for the

Aranui Eagles Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby lea ...

, before being signed by 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 leag ...

in their youth team.

Playing career

Early career

In 2014 and 2015, Isaako played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team. In May 2016, he played for 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 ...

playing at Five eighth against the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

in their 34-20 loss at Piretek Stadium . In 2016, he joined the

. In May 2016, he played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos for the second year in a row.

2017

In 2017, Isaako graduated to the Broncos

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...

team,

Souths Logan Magpies The Souths Logan Magpies, more commonly referred to by their former names Southern Suburbs Magpies, or South Brisbane Magpies, or often simply referred to as Souths, are a rugby league football club based in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Au ...

. During the season, Isaako would show great form for the Magpies and Broncos coach Wayne Bennett would eventually give him his NRL Debut in Round 19 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 ...

, starting at fullback in the 34-22 win at

Hunter Stadium Newcastle International Sports Centre, known as McDonald Jones Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, Australia. The ground is home to the Newcastle Knights (National Rugby League) and Newcast ...

. This was Isaako's only appearance for the Broncos for the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

but he would continue his great form in the Queensland Cup and would be named at Fullback in the Intrust Super Cup team of the season.

2018

After having a boom season in the Queensland Cup, Isaako would cement his spot in the Broncos backline, practically on the wing after the departure of

Tautau Moga Tautau Moga (born 6 December 1993) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a and er for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL. He previously played for the Sydney Roosters, North Queensland Cowboys, Brisbane Bron ...

to the

and injuries to high-profile recruit

Jack Bird Jack Bird (born 20 March 1995) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and forward for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League, NRL. Bird previously played for the Brisbane Broncos and the ...

. In Round 1 against the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George, Sydney, St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since NR ...

in the 2018 season opening match, Isaako would star for the Broncos even though they had game to forget after losing 34-12 at Jubilee Stadium. In Round 3 against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional 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 joint-venture ...

, Isaako kicked a penalty goal in golden point extra time to give the Broncos a scrappy 9-7 win without scoring any tries, just with Isaako kicking 4 penalty goals and a field goal at

Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Stadium, formerly Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, is a multi-use stadium in Leumeah, New South Wales, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. It is the home ground of the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Wests Ti ...

. In Round 6 against the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

, Isaako scored his first and second NRL tries in the Broncos 27-18 win at

Mt Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium (formerly known as Ericsson Stadium) is a multipurpose stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League, and occasionally hosts rugby union and internatio ...

. In Round 11 against the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

, Isaako had a match to remember, scoring 2 tries and kicking 4 goals, 1 of tries coming from nothing after he was pressured from Roosters defenders after an attempt to kick a field goal, so he stepped around defenders in a razzle dazzle fashion and scored a magnificent try to win the match for the Broncos with 2 minutes in the 28-22 victory at

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

. On 24 June 2018, Isaako made his international debut for

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the historical test match set in Denver, USA, starting on the wing and kicking 3 goals in the 36-18 loss at

Mile High Stadium Mile High Stadium (originally Bears Stadium until 1968) was an outdoor multi-purpose stadium located in Denver, Colorado from 1948 to 2001. The stadium was built in 1948 to accommodate the Denver Bears baseball team, which was a member of the ...

. As Isaako would show excellent form for the Broncos, between Round's 19-21 Isaako started at fullback and incumbent fullback

Darius Boyd Darius Boyd (born 17 July 1987) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who played , , and for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL and has played for Australia at international level and State of Origin for Queensland. Boyd c ...

would shift to centre, showing some success but would go back to the wing for the rest of season. On 19 July 2018, Isaako extended his contract with the Broncos to the end of the 2024 season, after rejecting a rich offer from the

. Isaako finished his exciting

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 ...

with him playing in all of the Broncos 25 matches, scoring 11 tries and kicking 97 goals, being the club's highest point scorer with 239 points. On 26 September 2018, at the 2018 Dally M Awards, Isaako received the Rookie of the Year award and his magnificent match winning try against the

in Round 11 was named as the Try of the Year. On 1 October 2018, Isaako was named in the New Zealand squad for their tour of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. Isaako would play in 1 match, which was the last of the 3 matches against England, playing on the wing in the 34-0 win at Elland Road in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. On 26 October 2018, Isaako became a father after his partner Abby Sutherland give birth their newborn son Isaiah Jamayne Isaako.

2019

As Isaako struggled to hit the heights of last year with uncharacteristic errors creeping into his game as the Broncos struggled with a 2-6 start leading up to the Round 9 Magic Round match against the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

, Isaako alongside James Roberts were dropped from the team for defensive and handling issues. Isaako only sat out for the match as the Broncos won 26-10 at

. Isaako returned to his wing spot the week later in Round 10 against the last year premiers the

, kicking 3 goals in the much needed strong 15-10 win at

2020

Isaako played only ten games for Brisbane 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-seaso ...

, due to death of his father meaning due to quarantine restrictions he was unable to play for the second half of the season, as the club finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon for the first time in their history.

2021

In round 8 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 ...

, Isaako scored two tries and kicked five goals as Brisbane came from 22-0 down to defeat the Gold Coast 36-28. In December, Isaako signed a contract to join the new Redcliffe side who are due to join the NRL competition in 2023.

2022

On 22 March, Isaako signed a one-year deal to join the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

for the remainder of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

. It was initially believed that Isaako would sign a short term contract with Parramatta but instead chose to sign with the Gold Coast club as he wanted to remain in Queensland. In round 10, Isaako scored the winning try for Gold Coast in their golden point victory over St. George Illawarra which ended a five-game losing streak.

Career Stats

References

External links

Brisbane Broncos profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaako, Jamayne 1996 births Living people Brisbane Broncos players Gold Coast Titans players Junior Kiwis players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand people of Tokelauan descent New Zealand national rugby league team players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Christchurch Rugby league wingers Samoa national rugby league team players Souths Logan Magpies players