Joel Moon (born 20 May 1988) 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 11 ...

footballer who played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. He last played for the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...

in the Super League. An Indigenous All-Stars and Exiles international representative, he previously played 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) 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

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 ...

. He commenced his Super League career with the

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

before switching to the Leeds Rhinos, with whom he won the 2015 Super League Championship.

Background

Moon was born in

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough ...

Queensland, Australia ) , 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_ ...

, and attended

Morayfield State High School Morayfield State High School is a public, coeducational high school in Morayfield, Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type ...

, and played in the same team as future NRL players

Matt Gillett Matthew Gillett (born 12 August 1988) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward in the 2010s. He played for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, NRL and Australia national rugby leagu ...

, Jack Reed and Dane Hogan. He started his rugby league career at

. He later was spotted by the Brisbane Broncos and moved to their feeder club in the

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 ...

, the

Toowoomba Clydesdales The Toowoomba Clydesdales are a rugby league football club based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The Clydesdales originally played in the Queensland Cup from the competition's inception in 1996 until 2006, and were the feeder club for the ...

. In 2005 Moon played for the Australian Schoolboys team, and also toured Britain with the Australian Institute of Sport. In 2007 he starred for Queensland under 19s against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in the curtain-raiser to 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 ...

opener in May.

Professional playing career

Broncos

Moon made his

first grade First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by ...

début for the

in round 14 2006 as part of the 'Baby Broncos' side that played during the

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

series. He joined fellow teenager David Taylor as the first Broncos that were not yet born when the club burst onto the scene in 1988. After three games for the club, Moon then played the rest of the 2006 season with feeder team

, whom he helped reach the

Grand Final after scoring nine tries. He attracted interest from

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

for the 2007 season but decided to stay with the Broncos. Joel Moon

NRL season 2007 The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusio ...

Moon was selected in the centres for the opening game of the season against the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

. Moon played eleven games for the club and scored three tries. Moon was trialled as the fifth player to play at halfback for the club in 2007, before Bennett selected

Michael Ennis Michael Ennis (born 16 March 1984) is an Australian sports commentator for Fox League and former professional rugby league footballer of Irish descent. A New South Wales State of Origin representative , he played for the Canterbury-Bankstown ...

as the long term option. In 2008 Moon played seventeen games for the Broncos team and was good enough to attract interest from other National Rugby League sides such as 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 ...

. However he signed with the

for 2009. When not selected for the first grade side, Moon turned out 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

Warriors

Moon joined fellow former Broncos Denan Kemp and

Brent Tate Brent Tate (born 3 March 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or er in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia international and Queensland State of Origin representative, he played his club football in ...

at the

for 2009, deciding to move due to the Warriors offer to give him the chance to play at his preferred position of five eighth. However, he did not perform up to the hype, and was shifted to centre, where he impressed, and managed to score 4 tries in the 32 all draw with the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

CUA Stadium Penrith Stadium (known commercially as BlueBet Stadium) is a rugby league and association football stadium located in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. The 22,500 capacity venue is the home ground for the Penrith Panthers who play in the N ...

. He was re-signed for the 2011 season. Moon was named in the Indigenous All Stars team in 2011 as a replacement for

Sam Thaiday Samuel Arthur Thaiday (; born 12 June 1985) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, serving as their captain from 2012 until 2013. An Australian internationa ...

Salford

Moon signed with

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. In 2012 Moon was selected to be in the Exiles squad by head coach Daniel Anderson, he narrowly missed out on selection for game 1 however he featured at centre for game 2 and help the Exiles retain the

International Origin International Origin was an annual series of rugby league football matches between England national rugby league team, England RL and the Exiles rugby league team, Exiles. The International Origin was created by the Rugby Football League (RFL) to ...

trophy with a 32–20 win.

Leeds

Moon's signing, for an undisclosed fee, was announced on 21 November 2012. He was expected to fill the void left by former Leeds centre

Keith Senior Keith Andrew Senior (born 24 April 1976) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Sheffield Eagles and the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League. A Great Britain and England international representative , he is ...

, who retired through injury. Moon made his début for Leeds on 1 February 2013, he scored in the 2nd half and was awarded with the man of the match. Having made an excellent start to his Leeds career, forming an excellent partnership with winger Ryan Hall, which led him to sign a new contract with the club in May 2014, keeping him at Headingley until 2018. He played in the 2014 Challenge Cup Final victory over the Castleford Tigers at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

, He played in the 2015 Challenge Cup Final victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

. He played in the

2015 Super League Grand Final The 2015 Super League Grand Final was the 18th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XX season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2015, at Old Trafford, Manchester, with a 6pm kick-off time. Th ...

victory over the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...

at Old Trafford. He played in the

2017 Super League Grand Final The 2017 Super League Grand Final was the 20th official Grand Final championship-deciding game of the Super League XXII. It was held at Old Trafford, Manchester on 7 October 2017, kick off 18.00. Leeds Rhinos became champions for a record 8th ...

victory over the Castleford Tigers at Old Trafford.

Return to Australia and Retirement

On 17 October 2019, it was announced that Moon had returned to Australia, signing with

side

Sunshine Coast Falcons The Sunshine Coast Falcons are a rugby league football team based on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sunshine Coast. They compete in the Queensland Cup and their home ground is Sunshine Coast Stadium. The Falcons are currently affiliat ...

for the 2020 season. On 12 February 2020, it was announced that Moon had retired due to a chronic knee injury. He did not play a game for the Falcons.

Honours

Club

* Super League (2): 2015,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

* League Leader's Shield (1): 2015 * Challenge Cup (2):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2015

References

External links

Leeds Rhinos profileSL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon, Joel 1988 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Brisbane Broncos players Exiles rugby league team players Indigenous All Stars players Indigenous Australian rugby league players Leeds Rhinos players New Zealand Warriors players Norths Devils players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Queensland Salford Red Devils players Toowoomba Clydesdales players Australian expatriate rugby league players Expatriate rugby league players in New Zealand Expatriate rugby league players in England People from Caloundra