Brendan Piakura

Brendan Piakura (born 16 May 2002) is a Cook Islands international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Brendan Piakura
Personal information
Born (2002-05-16) 16 May 2002
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Height189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight102 kg (16 st 1 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2021– Brisbane Broncos 15 2 0 0 8
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2022 Cook Islands 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 1 October 2023

Background

Piakura was born in Newcastle, New South Wales and raised on the Gold Coast, Queensland.[2] He is of Cook Islands descent.

He played his junior rugby league for the Helensvale Hornets and attended Coombabah State High School and Palm Beach Currumbin State High School before being signed by the Brisbane Broncos.[3][4]

Playing career

Early career

In 2018, Piakura represented the Queensland under-16 team.[5]

In 2019, he played for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Mal Meninga Cup, starting at second row in their state and national finals wins.[6] In June 2019, he represented the Queensland under-18 team.[7] In September 2019, he represented the Australian Schoolboys in their 36–20 win over the Junior Kiwis.[8]

2021

Piakura began the season playing for the Norths Devils in the Queensland Cup.[9]

On 15 April, he re-signed with the Brisbane club until the end of the 2024 season.[10]

In Round 24 of the 2021 NRL season, Piakura made his NRL debut for Brisbane in a loss to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.[11] He was sin-binned six minutes into his debut for a late tackle on Cronulla halfback Braydon Trindall, and was later suspended for two games.[12]

Piakura, once completing his two match suspension, played for Norths Devils in the Queensland cup finals, playing in wins over Tweed Heads Seagulls and Burleigh Bears. Piakura failed a HIA against Burleigh Bears in the preliminary final five minutes into the game and missed the Grand Final win over Wynnum Manly Seagulls 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 Brisbane Broncos in Round 25 in a 22–12 loss against St. George Illawarra Dragons. Piakura played in Norths Devils 16–10 victory over the Redcliffe Dolphins in the 2022 Queensland Cup Grand Final, starting in the second-row.

2023

In round 15 of the 2023 NRL season, Piakura scored his first NRL try in a 24–20 win over the Newcastle Knights. He played a total of 13 games for Brisbane in the 2023 NRL season. He played in Brisbane's 26-24 loss against Penrith in the 2023 NRL Grand Final.[13]

References
  1. RLP
  2. "Queensland young gun Brendan Piakura chased by seven rival NRL clubs". The Daily Telegraph. 28 November 2020.
  3. "Brendan Piakura to play first game for Palm Beach Currumbin since switching from Coombabah". Gold Coast Bulletin. 17 June 2019.
  4. "REVEALED: Coast's best NRL breeding grounds". Gold Coast Bulletin. 1 April 2021.
  5. "Queensland Under 16 team". QRL. 9 July 2018.
  6. "Red-hot Tweed Seagulls claim national title". QRL. 12 May 2019.
  7. "Queensland Under 18 team named". QRL. 26 May 2019.
  8. "Walker and Howarth shine in Schoolboys big win". NRL. 29 September 2019.
  9. "Piakura stars as Devils beat Milford's Magpies". Brisbane Broncos. 19 April 2021.
  10. "Exciting Piakura Commits Long-Term To Broncos". Brisbane Broncos. 15 April 2021.
  11. "Team List Update: Piakura To Debut". Brisbane Broncos. 28 August 2021.
  12. "Six-minute debut soured as hyped $1.2M Broncos teen binned". Fox Sports Australia. 28 August 2021.
  13. "NRL grand final 2023: Penrith Panthers defeat Brisbane Broncos – as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
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