Jaydn Su'a (born 23 October 1997) is a

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 Island, Manono an ...

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

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- ...

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

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 ...

and

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional 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 pla ...

in the NRL, and at representative level 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 ...

Background

Su'a 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 River / ...

, New Zealand. He is of Samoan descent and moved to Australia at the age of two. He attended

Marsden State High School Marsden State High School (MSHS) is a secondary school in Waterford West, Queensland for students between years 7 and 12. Marsden State High School is located on the corner of Chambers Flat Road and Muchow Road between the suburbs of Marsden and ...

and later

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in East Brisbane, an inner suburb of Brisbane, ...

, where he played for their

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team. He played his junior rugby league for the Logan Brothers, before being signed by the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

at the age of 13. After two years on a scholarship with the Raiders, he signed with the

Playing career

Early career

In 2012, Su'a played in the

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 ...

Cyril Connell Cup The Cyril Connell Challenge is an under-16 competition administered by the Queensland Rugby League. First run in 2021, the competition replaced the QRL Junior State Championships, which ran from 2017 to 2020. The 2020 competition was ultimately ca ...

and National Title winning sides as a 15-year-old. In 2013, he represented the

Queensland under-16 rugby league team The Queensland Under-16 rugby league team, also known as Queensland Under-16s or Queensland U16, represents Queensland in the sport of rugby league at an under-16 age level. Since 2008, the team has played an annual fixture against the New Sout ...

. In 2015, he joined the Brisbane Broncos'

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. That year, he represented the

Queensland under-18 rugby league team The Queensland Under-18 rugby league team, also known as Queensland Under-18s or Queensland U18, represents Queensland in the sport of rugby league at an under-18 age level. Since 2008, the team has played an annual fixture against the New Sout ...

, scoring a try and being named Man of the Match.

2016

On 7 May, Su'a represented 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 ...

and was named Man of the Match in their 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 ...

. In Round 12 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th 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 ...

, he made his

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 ...

debut for the Broncos against the

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 ...

. On 13 July, he captained the

Queensland under-20 rugby league team The Queensland Under-20 rugby league team, also known as Queensland Under-20s or Queensland U20, represents Queensland in the sport of rugby league at an under-20 age level. Since 2012, the team has played an annual fixture against the New South ...

. In September, he was named at second-row in the 2016 NYC Team of the Year. In September, he re-signed with the Broncos on a 2-year contract until the end of 2018.

2017

In 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 ...

, Su'a was limited to only 4 first grade appearances for Brisbane and did not feature in the club's finals campaign.

2018

In 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 ...

, Su'a made 15 appearances for Brisbane, but missed out on playing in the club's finals campaign due to injury.

2019

At the start 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 ...

, Su'a made 8 appearances for Brisbane as they lost 8 of their first 13 games which was one of the worst beginnings to a season in the club's history. On 28 June, Su'a signed a two-year contract to join South Sydney in a mid-season switch from Brisbane. Su'a made his debut for South Sydney against Manly-Warringah in Round 17 at

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

which ended in a 21–20 victory.

2020

Throughout 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 ...

, Su'a made 21 appearances for South Sydney, establishing himself as one of the competition's most improved players. Su'a was selected in the

Queensland rugby league team The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales rugby league team ...

for the 2020 State of Origin series. He made his debut in Game One, playing a solid 48 minutes off the bench as Queensland upset New South Wales.

2021

In 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 ...

, Su'a reinforced the previous years success, playing an instrumental role that helped the

Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing team ...

achieve a Top 4 finish. In Round 8, Su'a scored his first try of the season in a 34-20 point win over the

. In Round 19, Su'a scored 2 tries 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 ...

in a match that saw the Rabbitohs win 60–22. On 21 July, Su'a signed a three-year deal with St. George Illawarra. Su'a played a total of 23 games for South Sydney in 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 ...

, including the club's

2021 NRL Grand Final The 2021 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2021 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Sunday 3 October at Suncorp Stadiu ...

defeat against Penrith.

2022

In Round 1 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 ...

, he made his club debut for St. George Illawarra in their 28-16 victory over the

. In Rounds 2 and 3, Su'a was sent to the sin bin in consecutive weeks for dangerous tackles. Throughout 2022, Su'a played 18 games as the Dragons finished 10th, missing finals for fourth straight season. In October Su'a was named in the Samoa squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

. Su'a played for Samoa in their 2021 Rugby League World Cup final loss to Australia.

References

External links

South Sydney Rabbitohs profileBrisbane Broncos profileSamoa profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:SuA, Jaydn 1997 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Junior Kangaroos players Rugby league second-rows Souths Logan Magpies players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Christchurch Rugby league players from Queensland New Zealand emigrants to Australia South Sydney Rabbitohs players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players St. George Illawarra Dragons players