Isaah Patrick Ferguson-Yeo (born 6 November 1994) is an Australian 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 co-captains and plays as a forward for the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

in the

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 ...

and captains

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 ...

in State of Origin and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

at international level. Yeo was vice-captain of the Australia team that won the

2022 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

and he has represented New South Wales Country. Yeo is a four time Premiership-winning Co-Captain of the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and

2024 NRL Grand Final The 2024 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2024 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Melbourne Storm and the Penrith Panthers on Sunday 6 October at Accor Stadium in Syd ...

s with the Panthers. Yeo played as a forward and earlier in his career before a full-time move to in 2020.

Early life

Yeo was born in

Dubbo, New South Wales Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

. He is the son of former

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in Cammeray on Sydney's North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The club currently competes in the NSW Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL s ...

and

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...

player

Justin Yeo Justin Yeo is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for North Sydney and Balmain in the National Rugby League competition. Yeo is noted for his support of local community events including the Gulgong 7s. Backgr ...

. Yeo was educated at the St Johns College, Dubbo and played his junior football for

Dubbo CYMS The Dubbo CYMS are an Australian rugby league football team based in Dubbo, New South Wales a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia and play in the Group 11 Rugby League. The team was founded in 1947 before joining the group ...

, before being signed by the

Playing career

Yeo played for Penrith's

NYC New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive wit ...

team in 2013. Yeo played in Penrith's 2013 NYC Grand Final 42-30 win over 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 ...

2014

In round 1 of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...

, Yeo made his

debut for the Penrith club against

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. Yeo scored his first career try in the Penrith club's 38-12 win over

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

in round 12. On 9 July 2014, Yeo was selected for the NSW residents team to play against the Queensland residents team at Suncorp Stadium. He played at and scored a try in the NSW 16-24 loss. Yeo finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 10 matches and scoring two tries. Isaah Ferguson-Yeo

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Yeo played for Penrith in the

2015 NRL Auckland Nines The 2015 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the second NRL Auckland Nines tournament, contested between all sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The draw was released on 16 September 20 ...

. He finished off the 2015 season having played in 21 matches and scoring two tries for the Penrith club.

2016

In February 2016, Yeo was named in the Penrith's

2016 NRL Auckland Nines The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. As with previous tournaments, it wa ...

squad. On 11 February 2016, Yeo extended his contract with the Penrith club from the end of 2016 to the end of 2019. On 8 May 2016, Yeo played for New South Wales Country against New South Wales City, playing on the wing in the 30-44 loss in Tamworth. Yeo finished the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th 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, ...

with him playing in 26 matches and 5 tries for the Penrith club.

2017

In February 2017, Yeo was named as the captain of Penrith's

2017 NRL Auckland Nines The 2017 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the fourth NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 4–5 February 2017 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Just like previous tournaments, it ...

squad, The Panthers were the runner-ups of the tournament, losing to the

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 ...

10-8 in the final.

2018

Yeo made 26 appearances for Penrith and scored 4 tries in 2018 as the club finished 5th on the table at the end of the regular season. Penrith reached the second week of the finals for the third season running but were eliminated by 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 ...

21-20 with Yeo scoring a try in the defeat.

2019

Yeo began the 2019 as one of Penrith's first choice second-rowers and played in the club's opening round loss against Parramatta. Yeo was taken from the field after being hit in a high tackle by Michael Jennings. The following week, Yeo scored a try in Penrith's victory over Newcastle but was taken from the field after suffering another concussion. In Round 8 against Canberra, Yeo was taken from the field with a shoulder injury during the club's 30-12 loss. Yeo made a total of 18 appearances for Penrith 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 ...

as the club finished a disappointing 10th on the table and missed out on the finals for the first time since 2015.

2020

Yeo enjoyed his best year at Penrith in the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

as the club won the

Minor Premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

and reached the

2020 NRL Grand Final The 2020 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2020 National Rugby League season held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on October 25. The match was contested between minor premiers Penrith Panthers and second-placed Me ...

. On 19 October, he was named Dally M Lock of the year. Yeo played in the grand final which Penrith lost 26-20 against Melbourne. Following the game, Yeo was named in the preliminary State of Origin side for New South Wales. In Game 2 of the

2020 State of Origin series The 2020 State of Origin series was the 39th State of Origin series, annual best-of-three series between the Queensland rugby league team, Queensland and New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Q ...

, Yeo made his debut off the bench for New South Wales in a 34-10 win. He was selected for Game 3 where New South Wales lost the game 20-14 and the series 2-1 against Queensland.

2021

During the 2021 pre-season, it was announced that Yeo would become co-captain alongside

Nathan Cleary Nathan Cleary (born 14 November 1997) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League and plays for New South Wales rugby league team, NSW Blues in State o ...

. This announcement came after the previous captain; James Tamou, departed the club for 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 ...

. Yeo was selected in the

2021 State of Origin series The 2021 State of Origin series was the 40th annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland has won 22 times, NSW 15 times, with two series drawn. The venue for Game 1 w ...

at Lock for

. He played all three games in the series and was a part of the winning side as NSW reclaimed the Origin Shield. On 25 September (alongside his Co-Captain

), Yeo led the Penrith club to a 10-6 Preliminary Final victory over

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, earning Penrith their second

NRL Grand Final The NRL Grand Final is an annual rugby league match to determine the premiers of every National Rugby League season. It is a major sport event in Australia and regarded as the biggest showcase of rugby league football in the world. Since 1999 ...

in two years. On 27 September, Yeo was once again named Dally M Lock of the year for the second year in a row. On 3 October, Yeo helped lead the Penrith club to their third premiership. With a final score of 14-12, Penrith held out a late barrage by South Sydney Yeo played all 80 minutes, making 168 metres, 57 post-contact metres and 36 tackles Isaah Yeo Kangaroos

2022

On 29 May, Yeo was selected by New South Wales to play in game one of the

2022 State of Origin series The 2022 State of Origin series was the 41st State of Origin series, annual best-of-three series between the Queensland rugby league team, Queensland and New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Q ...

. Yeo played in all three games as New South Wales lost the series 2-1. Yeo played 23 games for Penrith in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

including the clubs

2022 NRL Grand Final The 2022 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2022 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the Parramatta Eels on Sunday the 2nd of October at Accor Stad ...

victory over

. In October he was named in the Australia squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

. Yeo played for Australia in their 2021 Rugby League World Cup final victory over Samoa.

2023

On 18 February, Yeo played in Penrith's 13-12 upset loss to

St Helens RFC 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 ...

in the

2023 World Club Challenge The 2023 World Club Challenge (known as the 2023 Betfred World Club Challenge for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th staging of the World Club Challenge. The match was contested by the NRL winners Penrith Panthers, and Super League champions S ...

. On 22 May, Yeo was selected by New South Wales for game one of the

2023 State of Origin series The 2023 State of Origin series was the 42nd annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 23 times, NSW 16 times, with two series drawn. Venues Game I was hel ...

. Yeo played 24 games for Penrith in the 2023 NRL season including the clubs 26-24 victory over Brisbane in the

2023 NRL Grand Final The 2023 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2023 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the Brisbane Broncos on Sunday the 1st of October at Stadium Aus ...

as Penrith won their third straight premiership.

2024

On 24 February, Yeo played in Penrith's

2024 World Club Challenge The 2024 World Club Challenge was the 30th staging of the World Club Challenge, an annual rugby league match between the reigning champions of the Super League and the National Rugby League. The Wigan Warriors hosted the Penrith Panthers at DW S ...

final loss against

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 ...

. On 26 May, Yeo was selected by New South Wales ahead of the

2024 State of Origin series The 2024 State of Origin series was the 43rd annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 24 times, NSW 16 times, with two series drawn. Game I Game I was hel ...

. Yeo played in all three games as New South Wales won the series 2-1. Yeo played 25 games for Penrith in the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

including the clubs 14-6 grand final victory over Melbourne. On 11 December, Yeo was named the Golden Boot winner. He became the first Australian Test player since

Cameron Smith Cameron or Cam Smith may refer to: * Cammie Smith (Cameron Wilberforce Smith, born 1933), West Indian cricketer * Cam Smith (artist), British comic book artist * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1983), Australian rugby league player * Cameron S ...

(in 2017) and the first New South Welshman since

Anthony Minichiello Anthony Minichiello (born 24 May 1980) is a former professional rugby league footballer who captained the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League, and retired having set records for most games and most tries in the club's history. An Austr ...

(in 2005) to win the award, while also becoming the next

player after James Fisher Harris to win it.

2025

Yeo was named captain of New South Wales for the 2025 State of Origin series.

Honours

Individual *Dally M Lock of the Year: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 *Dally M Captain of the Year: 2022 *Merv Cartwright Medal: 2018, 2023, 2024 *John Farragher Award for Courage and Determination: 2017 *IRL Golden Boot: 2024 Penrith Panthers *NRL Premiership: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 *NSW State Cup: 2014 *NYC Premiership: 2013 New South Wales *State of Origin Series: 2021, 2024 Australia *World Cup: 2021 *Pacific Cup: 2024

Statistics

References

External links

Penrith Panthers profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeo, Isaah 1994 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Penrith Panthers players Penrith Panthers captains Rugby league locks Rugby league second-rows Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Dubbo Windsor Wolves players 21st-century Australian sportsmen