Tom Dearden (born 13 March 2001) is an Australian 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 112 ...

footballer who plays as a or for 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 ...

in 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 ...

(National Rugby League). 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 ...

. He has played 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

Dearden was born in

Toowoomba, Queensland Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

, Australia. He settled in Mackay and attended Mackay State High School till grade 10. He played his junior rugby league for the Brothers Bulldogs Mackay before moving to 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 ...

, where he played for the

Currumbin Eagles Formed in 1976 as the Currumbin Football Club, the Currumbin Eagles compete in both the junior and senior Gold Coast Rugby League competitions. The club is based at the Merv Craig Sporting Complex in Currumbin Waters, Queensland and the club's G ...

and attended

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 ...

Career

Early career

In 2016, Dearden played for the

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland, Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup i ...

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 ...

side. In 2017, he moved to the Gold Coast to play at the

in their undefeated U16 premiership winning side under the guise of ex Melbourne Storm player and now coach

Matt Geyer Matt Geyer (born 5 September 1975) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. A New South Wales State of Origin representative , he played his club football primarily with the Melbourne Storm of the National Rugby League comp ...

. in the Currumbin U16 side, Dearden played along side fellow Queensland team mate

Xavier Coates Xavier Coates (born 12 March 2001) is a Papua New Guinea international rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL. He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos. He has played for Queensland in the State of Or ...

and current Titans half, Toby Sexton. Dearden represented the Queensland under-16 side. In 2018, 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 ...

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 ...

side, who made it to the semi-finals of the competition, and later represented the Queensland under-18 team. Later that season, he was a member of

ARL Schoolboy Cup The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier Education in Australia#Secondary schools, secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive Al ...

winning side, receiving the

Peter Sterling Medal The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive Alive Cup and GIO Schoolboy Cup nearly 450 s ...

for player of the tournament. In November and December 2018, he was a member of 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 ...

tour of England.

2019

In Round 8 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 ...

, Dearden made his NRL debut for the

against the

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 ...

2020

Dearden made 12 appearances 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-season ...

as the club suffered their worst ever year both on and off the field culminating in the club's first

Wooden Spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) ** Australian rugby league wooden spooners ** County Championship Wooden Spoons ** List of Australian Football League wooden spoons ** MLS Wooden Spoon * Wooden Spoon Soci ...

2021

Dearden began the 2021 season playing for 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 ...

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 four ...

, before being recalled into the Brisbane side in Round 3. On 26 April, he signed a three-year contract with the

, starting in 2022. On 29 May, he secured an immediate release from the

to join the North Queensland Cowboys for the remainder 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 ...

. Dearden made his North Queensland debut in round 14 against

Manly-Warringah 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 ...

in a 50-18 defeat. In Round 20, Dearden played his first game against his ex club

, Dearden scored a try in the 37-18 loss. In round 24, North Queensland defeated

St. George Illawarra 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 ...

38-26. It was Dearden's first win at the club and first win in any NRL match since round 3 when he was at Brisbane, ending 14 losses in a row as a player.

2022

Following a strong start to the season for North Queensland, Dearden was selected in the extended

Queensland Maroons 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 in the State of O ...

squad for Game 1 of

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 Oval ...

in Sydney. In Game 2, he was named 18th man before making his debut at Five-Eighth in the decider for Game 3 where Queensland emerged victorious 22-12. On May 16 during Magic round, Dearden famously got into a physical altercation with

Alex Twal Alex Twal (born 3 July 1996) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a prop and lock for the Wests Tigers. Background Twal was born in Westmead, New South Wales, Australia. He attended Parramatta Marist High School. Playing caree ...

resulting in both players being sin binned. Dearden played 23 matches for North Queensland in 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 ...

as the club finished third on the table and qualified for the finals. He played in both finals matches including their preliminary final loss to

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

References

External links

NRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dearden, Thomas 2001 births Living people Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players North Queensland Cowboys players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Toowoomba Souths Logan Magpies players Wynnum Manly Seagulls players