Brendon Reeves (born 16 July 1976) is an Australian former 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 played for the

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On 13 December 1980, they were the ...

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

and the

Northern Eagles The Northern Eagles were a rugby league team that competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by forming a joint venture with the North Sydney Bears and th ...

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 ...

(NRL). He played at fullback. Reeves made his ARL debut in round 7 of the 1996 season for the

against the

South Queensland Crushers South Queensland Crushers was an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, as par ...

Playing career

Reeves, who came from the Riverina town of

Quandialla Quandialla is a village in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West region of New South Wales Australia. The town is west of Sydney. It is situated on the plains at the western edge of the Weddin Shire. The town of Grenfell, New South ...

in country NSW, was a member of Yanco's University Shield open-age rugby league side, travelled to Darwin for the Australian rugby league championships and also represented NSW Combined High Schools in rugby union. In 1992, Reeves accepted a scholarship offer from the

which involved him moving to Wollongong when his time at Yanco had come to a conclusion. Reeves forced his way into first grade with the Steelers in 1996, but after three years in and out of first grade was forced to look elsewhere when the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are 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 (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

joint venture was formed. Reeves joined Manly in 1999 and was one of four players from the 1999 team to also play for the 2002

. He showed his loyalty to the club by being one of the first to sign with Manly after the demise of the Northern Eagles joint venture and was instrumental in convincing other players to sign. An injury-riddled season and increasing problems with a chronic knee and back injury forced Reeves into premature retirement at the end of 2003. On his retirement

Peter Peters Peter Peters may refer to: * Peter Peters (rugby league) (born 1947), Australian rugby league player, commentator and journalist * Peter Peters (football administrator) (born 1962), German journalist and football official * Peter J. Peters (born ...

said. "Brendon's loyalty to Manly has been great and won't be forgotten. He has been a wonderful player and an inspiration to the young players coming through. As well as being an inspirational player he was an excellent club man." Reeves commented that he was saddened to leave Manly. "I love the club and it has been good to me since I came to the area from Wollongong in 1999.I have no regrets other than I have to give up my career prematurely. "The way the club helped me through the last few months without putting me under any pressure was professional and caring. "I wish them all the best as the rebuilding process takes shape. I'll always consider myself a Manly player."

Retirement

Since his premature retirement, Reeves has also been involved in rugby league at the coaching level. Between 2008 and 2010 he was coach of the NSW Universities rugby league side which played against the Queensland equivalent which was coached by ex-Broncos forward Darren Smith. He has also become a teacher at Camden High School, where he is known for his impeccable badminton skills and stunning haircut. Brendon Reeves is commonly referred to as a "sick lad" by his CHS admirers. Reeves's main goal at CHS is to "thrash Cowra" at the annual Camden-Cowra exchange.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Brendon 1976 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian schoolteachers Illawarra Steelers players 20th-century Australian sportsmen Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Northern Eagles players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Young, New South Wales