Brad Parker (rugby league)

Brad Parker (born 19 February 1997) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a centre for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Brad Parker
Personal information
Full nameBradley Parker
Born (1997-02-19) 19 February 1997 (age 27)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
PositionCentre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–23 Manly Sea Eagles 117 29 0 0 116
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2019 Prime Minister's XIII 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Background

edit

Parker was born in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

He played his junior rugby league for the Manly Christian Brothers, before being signed by the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

Playing career

edit

Early career

edit

In 2015 and 2016, Parker played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles' NYC team.[2][3] On 18 August 2015, he re-signed with Manly on a two-year contract until the end of 2017.[4]

2016

edit

In round 19 of the 2016 NRL season, Parker made his NRL debut for Manly-Warringah against the New Zealand Warriors.[5][6] Parker got both his first and second try in the round 24 clash with the Melbourne Storm at Brookvale Oval.[7]

2017

edit

On the August 8, 2017, Parker signed a new deal with the club keeping him there till the end of 2019.“Manly is the team want to stay at, it’s the team I have gone for my whole life,” Parker said.[8] Parker injured himself in the round 24 clash with the Wests Tigers. Results of the scan revealed Parker has a lateral meniscus tear suffered in the loss at Leichhardt Oval. Parker sat out for the rest of the season with the injury.[9] In the 2017 season Parker played 4 games scoring 1 try with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.[10]

2018

edit

Parker made 17 appearances for Manly in 2018 as the club narrowly avoided the wooden spoon by 2 competition points.[11]

2019

edit

Parker made 19 appearances for Manly in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished in sixth place and qualified for the finals. Parker scored a try in Manly's elimination final victory over Cronulla in week one of the finals series at Brookvale Oval. The following week in the elimination semi final, Parker scored a try but was later sin binned for tripping a South Sydney player in the club's 34-26 loss at ANZ Stadium.[12][13][14]

On 30 September, Parker earned his first representative jersey as he was named at Centre for the Australia PM XIII side. On 7 October, Parker was named in the U23 Junior Australian side.

2020

edit

Parker played 19 games in the 2020 NRL season. Manly missed out on the finals finishing a disappointing 13th on the table.[15]

2021

edit

In round 11 of the 2021 NRL season, Parker scored two tries for Manly-Warringah in a 28-6 victory over Parramatta.[16] In round 14 against North Queensland, Parker scored two tries for Manly in a 50-18 victory.[17] Parker played 25 games for Manly in the 2021 NRL season including the club's preliminary final loss against South Sydney.[18]

2022

edit

In round 8 of the 2022 NRL season, Parker was taken from the field during Manly's 40-22 loss against South Sydney. It was later revealed Parker would be ruled out for an indefinite period with an ACL injury.[19]

2023

edit

Parker played 19 matches for Manly in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 12th on the table and missed the finals.[20] Parker re-signed with Manly until the end of the 2025 season.[21]

2024

edit

Parker spent the 2024 season in NSW Cup, playing 22 games for Manly's feeder side Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles.

On 6 September 2024, Parker announced via Manly's Instagram that he was announcing his retirement at the end of the season, days prior team mate Aaron Woods announced his retirement from the NRL and confirmed that Parker would be retiring as well. Parker said that his body had broken down on him and the call to retire had come earlier then he would've liked [22][23]

Statistics

edit

First grade

edit
Year Team Games Tries Pts
2016   Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 4 2 8
2017 4 1 4
2018 17 3 12
2019 19 5 20
2020 19 4 16
2021 25 8 32
2022 10 1 4
2023 19 5 20
Totals 117 29 116

Reserve grade

edit
Year Team Games Goals Tries Pts
2019   Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles 1
2022 1
2024 22 1 5 22
Totals 25 1 5 30

References

edit
  1. ^ "Brad Parker - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  2. ^ "P". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  3. ^ Tim Costello (19 April 2016). "LeagueUnlimited Holden Cup NYC U20's Teams - 2016 Round 8". League Unlimited. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  4. ^ SeaEagles.com.au (18 August 2015). "Manly make Wright move with Tom". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Updated team lists: Sea Eagles v Warriors". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  6. ^ NRL. "NRL Late Mail v Warriors". Sea Eagles. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Sea Eagles v Storm: Five key points". 20 August 2016.
  8. ^ Geddes, Jon (8 August 2017). "Sea Eagles re-sign rising star". Daily Telegraph.
  9. ^ "Injury update | Brad Parker". 14 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Official NRL profile of Brad Parker for Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles - NRL".
  11. ^ "Manly Warringah Sea Eagles season 2018 review: They didn't know how to manage the players who 'walk to a different beat'". www.foxsports.com.au. 5 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Rabbitohs dig deep to eliminate Sea Eagles in finals thriller". NRL.
  13. ^ "South Sydney Rabbitohs beat Manly Sea Eagles 34-26 in NRL semi-final". ABC News. 20 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Under-strength Sea Eagles send Sharks packing". NRL. 14 September 2019.
  15. ^ O'Loughlin, Liam (26 October 2020). "NRL 2020 Season Review: How will your side fare next year?". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Right-edge review after Blake badly exposed by Manly". www.nrl.com. 23 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Cronulla Sharks pip Penrith Panthers 19-18, Manly Sea Eagles thrash North Queensland Cowboys 50-18". ABC News. 11 June 2021.
  18. ^ "GLORY, GLORY: Souths march into the GF as Wayne masterminds Manly mauling". www.foxsports.com.au. 24 September 2021.
  19. ^ "Injury Ward". www.foxsports.com.au.
  20. ^ "The $800k call Seibold must make as Turbo hits NRL crossroads: Sea Eagles Brutal Review". www.foxsports.com.au.
  21. ^ "Brad Parker re-signs with Sea Eagles for two more years". Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  22. ^ Staff Writer (7 September 2024). "Sea Eagle announces shock retirement; NRL veteran calls time on career — Transfer Centre". Fox Sports. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  23. ^ "'It hit me': Aaron Woods confirms 'emotional' retirement; Benji's big Tigers boost — Transfer Centre". Fox Sports. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
edit