Mitchell Barnett (born 15 April 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 plays as a or forward for 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 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 previously played for 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 ...

and

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

in the

Background

Barnett was born in

Taree, New South Wales Taree () is a city on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. It and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then it has grown to a population of 26,381, and commands a significant agricultural district. Situ ...

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 ...

. He started his junior rugby league career with Wingham Tigers Junior Rugby League in 1999, and remained with Wingham JRL until the end of under-16s in 2011, when he was signed by the

Playing career

Early career

After playing in the lower grades at the

, Barnett joined the

In 2013 and 2014, he played for Canberra'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.

2015

In 2015, Barnett graduated to Canberra's

New South Wales 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 ...

team,

Mount Pritchard Mounties The Mounties Rugby League Football Club (sponsored by Mounties Group) is an Australian rugby league football club based in Mount Pritchard, New South Wales formed in 1927. They currently play in the Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield. Recent ...

. On 10 April, he re-signed with

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

on a two-year contract. On 3 May, he played for the

New South Wales Residents The New South Wales Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Premiership (NSW Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against QLD Cup Representative t ...

against the

Queensland Residents The Queensland Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Cup (Queensland Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against NSW Cup Representative Tea ...

. In round 22 of the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followe ...

, he 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 Canberra against 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 ...

. On 27 September, he won the 2015 New South Wales Cup Player of the Year award and was named at second-row in the 2015 New South Wales Cup Team of the Year. In November, after Barnett's management discovered his new Canberra contract for the next two seasons hadn't been lodged with the NRL, he opted to instead attempt to sign a more lucrative deal with the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

. However, after Canberra threatened legal action, the signed contract was discovered and lodged, Barnett returning to Canberra to honour the deal.

2016

On 8 May, Barnett played for the New South Wales Residents against the Queensland Residents for a second year in a row. On 8 June, he re-joined the

effective immediately on a contract until the end of 2017, after being released from the final two years of his

contract. He made his Newcastle debut in round 14 against the

. He played nine games for Newcastle in his first season at the club as they finished bottom of the table.

2017

In March, Barnett re-signed with the Newcastle club on a three-year contract until the end of 2020. He made a total of 22 appearances and scored four tries for Newcastle as the club finished last on the table.

2018

Barnett played 23 games for Newcastle in the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

as the club finished 11th on the table.

2019

In round 11 against 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 ...

, Barnett kicked two goals, with one from the sideline, after regular kicker

Kalyn Ponga Kalyn Ponga (born 30 March 1998) is a professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and Queensland rugby league team, Queensland in the State of Origin series. He is the ...

went off the field with an injury. In December, Barnett re-signed with the Newcastle club on a three-year contract until the end of 2023.

2020

Barnett played 13 games for Newcastle 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 ...

. He played in Newcastle's first finals game since 2013 which was a 46-20 loss against South Sydney in the elimination final.

2021

Barnett played 24 games for Newcastle in 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 ...

including the club's elimination finals loss against

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 ...

2022

In round 3 of 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 ...

, Barnett was sent off for using a raised elbow on opponent Chris Smith during Newcastle's 38-20 loss against Penrith, and was subsequently referred to the

NRL Judiciary The NRL Judiciary is the disciplinary judiciary of the National Rugby League (NRL), a rugby league competition. The Judiciary regulates the on-field conduct of players from NRL clubs. Due to changes announced on the eve of the 2022 NRL season, th ...

for an ungraded dangerous contact charge. Barnett had pleaded guilty and claimed the contact was careless, however, it was found to be reckless in nature, with a six match suspension handed down in relation to the incident. In April, Barnett signed a three-year contract with the

starting in 2023, after gaining a release from the final year of his Knights contract.

2023

In round 19 of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

, Barnett scored two tries for New Zealand in their 46-10 victory over Parramatta. Barnett played 15 games for the New Zealand Warriors in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 4th on the table and qualified for the finals. Barnett played in all three finals games as the club reached the preliminary final stage before being knocked out by Brisbane.

2024

Barnett was selected to play off the bench 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 ...

for game three 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 ...

. New South Wales would win the match 14-4 in Brisbane to claim the shield for the first time since 2021.

2025

In May, Barnett was selected to play for New South Wales in game one of the 2025 State of Origin series. On 2 June, Barnett was ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering an ACL injury during the New Zealand Warriors round 13 win against South Sydney.

Statistics

*denotes season competing

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Mitchell 1994 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Mount Pritchard Mounties players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players Newcastle Knights players New Zealand Warriors players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Taree Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players 21st-century Australian sportsmen