Brett Finch (10 August 2008)
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Brett John Finch (born 20 August 1981) 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 in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. A
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
State of Origin representative half back, he played 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 ...
for Australian clubs the
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...
and
Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...
. Finch also played in the
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
for English club the
Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...
(with whom he won the
2011 Challenge Cup The 2011 Challenge Cup (also known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 110th staging of the most competitive European rugby league tournament at club level and was open to teams from England, Wales, Scotland, France and ...
Final).


Background

Born in Maitland, New South Wales, Australia, the son of former player Robert Finch. Finch was educated at Erindale College, where he represented 1998 Australian Schoolboys. He was a
Hunter Mariners The Hunter Mariners were an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Hunter Region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid-1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super Leagu ...
junior, playing for Valentine Devils.


Playing career

At the
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 ...
, Finch won the club's Rookie of the Year award in 1999. He debuted earlier in that year against the
Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...
in round 14 as a 17-year-old. Finch joined the Sydney Roosters in 2003. As 2002 NRL premiers, the Roosters travelled to England for the
2003 World Club Challenge The 2003 World Club Challenge match was contested on Sunday, 16 February by National Rugby League season 2002 premiers, the Sydney Roosters and Super League VII premiers, St Helens R.F.C., St. Helens. 19,807 spectators turned out at Bolton's Reebo ...
against
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
champions,
St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...
Finch played from the interchange bench in Sydney's victory. In 2004, whilst playing for the Sydney Roosters, Finch threw a bottle back into the crowd after he was pelted by a
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 ...
fan. Finch played for the Sydney Roosters at half back in their 2004 NRL grand final loss to cross-Sydney rivals,
Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in Inner South-Western Sydney. The region is located to the north of the St George region (from which it is separated by Wolli Creek) and to the south of the Inner West region ...
. Finch played three State of Origin games for
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
after crossing from Canberra. His most famous moment was when he was called into the New South Wales squad on the eve of Game 1 of the
2006 State of Origin series The 2006 State of Origin series was the 25th year that the annual best-of-three series of interstate rugby league football matches between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams was contested entirely under ' state of origin' se ...
. He then turned out to be a hero by scoring a try, setting up two and by kicking the winning field goal to push New South Wales to a famous 17–16 victory at
Telstra Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...
. However, Finch had a disastrous Game II, and was dropped for the decider which New South Wales lost. They also lost the 2006 series for the first time since 2001. The Sydney Roosters and Finch agreed on an early termination of his contract, allowing the
Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...
to sign Finch on a two-year deal from the Roosters, commencing from the
2007 NRL season The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusi ...
. The Parramatta club then extended his contract to the end of the
2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The ...
, reportedly to be worth $1 million for three years. On 8 April 2009, Parramatta CEO, Denis Fitzgerald, confirmed that Finch would be released from his contract with Parramatta. The contract was not due to expire until the end of the
2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The ...
. Finch is quoted in media sources as stating that coach Daniel Anderson told him he "may not be the right person to take the club forward in the halfback position". On 14 April 2009, Finch signed a one-year contract with the Melbourne Storm, his fourth club in eleven NRL seasons. Melbourne coach
Craig Bellamy Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is the current Football coach (association football), head ...
commented: "He will add depth and experience to our squad and gives us further options in the halves." He got his revenge beating his old team, Parramatta, in the
2009 NRL Grand Final The 2009 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership season. Played on 4 October 2009 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium was contested between the Parramatta Eels and the Melbourne Storm, the lat ...
, setting up two tries. However, the NRL later discovered significant salary cap breaches and stripped the Melbourne club of this win. This made it third time unlucky for Finch, having lost two Grand Finals with the Roosters (
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
and 2004). Despite the club being stripped of the 2009 premiership, Finch maintained the belief years later that their grand final victory was legitimate and that he is a premiership winning player. In July 2010, Finch signed with then
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
champions,
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
. The deal began with the 2011 season and continued through the 2012 season. Finch did not make his début for Wigan until 25 March 2011 in the home defeat by
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
in round 7 of the super league, where Finch scored Wigan's only try. Finch missed the start of the season due to a thigh injury which saw him miss 6 games for the Wigan, including fiveSuper League games and the
2011 World Club Challenge The 2011 World Club Challenge (known as the Probiz World Club Challenge due to sponsorship) was contested by Super League XV champions, Wigan Warriors, and 2010 NRL Premiers, the St. George Illawarra Dragons, at Wigan's home ground, DW Stadium. ...
defeat by St. George Illawarra. Finch played in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final 28–18 victory over
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
. After his two-year stint at Wigan, Finch returned to the Melbourne Storm for the
2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixt ...
. He joined the team as a back-up to halves pairing
Cooper Cronk Cooper Patrick Cronk (born 5 December 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An n international and Queensland rugby league team, Queensland State of Origin series, State of Origin ...
and
Gareth Widdop Gareth Edward Widdop (born 12 March 1989) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Halifax Panthers in the RFL Championship. Widdop played at club level for the Melbourne Storm and the St. George Illawarra ...
.


Post playing

After retiring at the end of 2013, Finch worked as a sideline commentator on Channel Nine's NRL coverage between 2014 and 2016, as well as semi-regular appearances as a panellist on ''
The NRL Footy Show ''The Footy Show'' was an Australian sports variety television program covering professional rugby league in Australia. It was shown on the Nine Network and aired for 25 seasons. For the final season in 2018, the show was hosted by journalist Eri ...
''. He departed Channel 9 at the end of 2016, citing mental health issues. In 2017, Finch began working for
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
. In 2018, Finch married his partner of 5 years Elli Johnston, who in 2019 gave birth to the couple's only daughter. In May 2023, it was reported that the two were "no longer together". On 24 October 2019, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' reported that Finch checked himself into a mental health facility after an incident on an interstate flight. Concerns were raised after Finch was seen asleep with a bloody nose on a flight from
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
to the Gold Coast. One witness was quoted as saying "He looked like he couldn’t bring himself to get off the plane. White as a ghost, couldn’t control his runny nose and (appeared) paranoid. He wasn’t abusive. He just didn’t want to get off the plane, like he was scared about something". In late September, Finch joined the YKTR Sports organisation, run by former rugby league player Isaac John. On 30 September, Finch launched his podcast, Brett Finch Uncensored, with
Brad Fittler Bradley Scott Fittler (born 5 February 1972), also known by the nickname of "Freddy", is an Australian rugby league commentator, television presenter, and former player. Fittler captained both New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales ...
featuring as his first guest. The podcast ran independently to YKTR Sports.


Child abuse material

On 14 December 2021, Finch was arrested and charged with five counts of sharing child abuse material. In May 2022, NSW Police laid an additional two charges which included using a carriage service to make available child abuse material. In August 2022, Finch pleaded guilty to one count of using a carriage service to make available child abuse material. The other charges were dropped. On 23 November 2022, Finch avoided a custodial sentence and was handed a two-year community sentence. A conviction was recorded with Finch also needing to obey strict probation conditions along with seeing a psychologist for a 12-month period.


References


External links

*
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Brett 1981 births Living people Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Australian people convicted of child pornography offences Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople convicted of crimes Canberra Raiders players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Fox Sports (Australian TV network) people Maitland Pickers players Melbourne Storm players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players NRL All Stars players Parramatta Eels players People educated at Erindale College Prime Minister's XIII players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Maitland, New South Wales Sydney Roosters players Valentine-Eleebana Red Devils players Wigan Warriors players 21st-century Australian sportsmen