Brendan Hands
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Brendan Hands | |||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Castlereagh, New South Wales, Australia | 2 December 1999|||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 176 cm (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 92 kg (14 st 7 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Hooker | |||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 6 September 2024 |
Brendan Hands (born 2 December 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as hooker for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Playing career
[edit]Early career
[edit]Hands was a Brothers Penrith junior who played both rugby league and basketball.[1] From a young age his coaches said that he would be a NRL player.[2] He would join the Penrith Panthers playing for their Jersey Flegg Cup under 20's team in 2019, winning the club's Junior Education Award.[3] In 2020, he was a part of Penrith's first grade squad.[4]
Parramatta Eels
[edit]In 2022, Hands signed with the Parramatta Eels to play in the NSW Cup competition. Hands played 23 games for Parramatta's NSW Cup team in 2022.[4]
In round 4 of the 2023 NRL season, Hands made his NRL debut for Parramatta[5] against his former club, Penrith at Western Sydney Stadium and scored a try in his side's 17−16 golden point extra-time victory.[6][4][7][8] Hands played a total of 19 matches for Parramatta in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 10th and missed the finals.[9] After Parramatta's upset loss to the Wests Tigers in round 4 of the 2024 NRL season, Hands was demoted to reserve grade by Parramatta head coach Brad Arthur.[10] Hands played 19 games for Parramatta in the 2024 NRL season as the club finished 15th on the table. On 27 November 2024, Hands signed a two-year contract extension to remain at Parramatta until the end of 2026.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ Jones, Matt (1 August 2012). "Rugby league and basketball in good Hands". Hawkesbury Gazette. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ Crawley, Paul; Pollard, Kyle (23 December 2020). "NRL 2021: The best rookies set to debut next season". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, New South Wales: Nationwide News Pty Ltd.
- ^ "2019 Junior Education Award: Brendan Hands". penrithpanthers.com.au. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ a b c Whaley, Pamela (24 March 2023). "Brendan Hands has dream NRL start for Eels against the club he grew up supporting". www.codesports.com.au.
- ^ "Emotions high as Hands receives his NRL debut jersey". NRL.com. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ "Moses the saviour as Eels win dramatic Grand Final rematch". www.nrl.com. 23 March 2023.
- ^ "'What a game': Fans lose it over golden point NRL madness". www.news.com.au.
- ^ Bruce, Jasper (24 March 2023). "NRL's new $6 million Mitchell Moses the hero as Parramatta Eels sink Penrith Panthers despite Nathan Cleary genius". 7news.com.au. Seven West Media. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ "NRL 2023: Parramatta Eels season review". www.sportingnews.com.
- ^ "NRL Round 5 Team Lists 2024". www.nrl.com.
- ^ "The Mole's end of season review: What went wrong at the Parramatta Eels?". www.nine.com.au.