Brad Abbey (born 30 December 1996) is a New Zealand professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays for the

Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles The Blacktown Workers Rugby League Football Club, formerly known as Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles, are an Australian rugby league football club based in Blacktown, New South Wales formed in 1962. From 2017 until 2024, they had a side in the NSW C ...

in the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. Abbey previously played for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

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 Rugb ...

and

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

Background

Abbey was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, and is of Samoan descent and Irish descent .

Playing career

Early career

Abbey played his junior rugby league for the

Pakuranga Jaguars The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

and

Richmond Rovers The Richmond Rovers Rugby League Club is a rugby league club based in Grey Lynn, New Zealand. The premier team is called the Richmond Bulldogs/Richmond Rovers and compete in Auckland Rugby League's first grade Fox Memorial competition. They have ...

. He was then signed by the

New Zealand Warriors The 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 the Aucklan ...

. In 2014 and 2015, Abbey played for the New Zealand Warriors' NYC team. In October 2015, he played for the Warriors in their 2014 NYC Grand Final win over the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

. In November 2015, he signed a 3-year contract with the

starting in 2016. In May 2016, he played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...

against the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. Th ...

2017

In round 3 of the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, Abbey made his

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

debut for Canterbury against his former club, the Warriors. He went on to play 4 NRL matches in his debut season, scoring 1 try and kicking 1 goal. On 10 November, it was announced that Abbey had signed a two-year contract with the

starting in 2018, after being released from his Canterbury contract in a player swap for Canberra player

Clay Priest Clay Priest (born 5 February 1989) is an Australian rugby league footballer who last played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League. He plays as a and . He has previously played for the Canberra Raiders. He currently ...

2018

Abbey came into the starting side to play fullback at short notice for the round 16 match against the Brisbane Broncos, that followed the suspension of

Jack Wighton Jack Wighton (born 4 February 1993) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League (NRL) and for the Indigenous All-Stars (rugby league), Indigenous All Stars. ...

for an off-field incident. He faced his former club

in round 17. Abbey scored his only try of the season the in a controversial round 19 loss to the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

2019

Abbey made no appearances for Canberra in 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 ...

. Abbey spent his time playing for

Mounties The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

, Canberra's feeder club side in the

Canterbury Cup NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. Abbey was later ruled out for the season with an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

(ACL) knee injury. On 13 October, it was announced that Abbey had been released by Canberra. On 26 November, it was revealed that Abbey was on a train and trial contract with the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

2021

In February 2021, Abbey signed a train and trial contract with the

. In round 1 of the

competition, Abbey made his first appearance for Sydney Roosters feeder club

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

in a 48–20 loss against Blacktown Workers. In round 24 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 ...

, Abbey made his first appearance in the

for three years in the

54–12 loss against arch rivals South Sydney.

References

External links

Canberra Raiders profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbey, Brad 1996 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Canberra Raiders players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Junior Kiwis players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players Pakuranga Jaguars players Richmond Bulldogs players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Auckland Sydney Roosters players