Nathaniel Neale (born 16 September 1988) 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. He previously played for the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

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 ...

. He primarily plays as a and second-rower.

Background

Neal was born and raised in Westmere, a central suburb of

Auckland, New Zealand 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 ...

. He played for the

Ponsonby Ponies The Ponsonby Ponies are a rugby league club based in Ponsonby, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1908 and was originally named Ponsonby United. The Ponies compete in the Auckland Rugby League competition and are the oldest rugby league club in ...

Under 21s team before being 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 ...

Playing career

He played for the New Zealand Warriors' NYC team in 2008 before moving on to the Warriors'

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 ...

team,

Auckland Vulcans The Auckland Vulcans were an Auckland based rugby league club that participated in the New South Wales Cup. They were administered by the Rugby League Development Foundation. The team was selected from the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial C ...

in 2009. At this time, he was also aligned with the

Auckland Rugby League 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. ...

club,

Mount Albert Lions The Mount Albert Lions are a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. The Lions home ground is at Fowlds Park. Their patron is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. In 2008 and 2009 Auckland Rugby League season, 2009 ...

. Wanting to further his 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 ...

career, Neale signed a two-year contract with the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

starting in 2011. He made his debut in round 1 of 2011 under coaches

Ben Walker Ben Walker (born 13 September 1976) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A or halfback, he played in Australia's National Rugby League for the Brisbane Broncos, Northern Eagles, Manl ...

and Shane Walker. It was not long before Neale made his mark in the competition and was regularly nominated as the team's best. In his second year at the club, Neale continued to prove an asset to the team. At the end of 2012, Neale was rewarded with the top award, the Alan Langer Medal for "best and fairest" and signed on for a third year at the

. In Neale's third year at the

he earned the top two awards for the club, the Alan Langer Medal and the Players' Player award. In October 2013, Neale signed a one-year contract with the

starting in 2014. In round 3 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 ...

, Neale 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 South Sydney 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 ...

. In 2016 Neale joined the Ipswich Jets in the Queensland Cup. In 2022, Neale announced his retirement from rugby league at the end of the 2022 Hostplus Cup Season. On 27 August 2022, Neale played his final game for the

, captaining the team and scoring a goal in the 18–40 loss to the Northern Pride at

Barlow Park Barlow Park is a multi-sports facility and stadium in Parramatta Park, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. The Park is home of the Northern Pride RLFC offices, Cairns District Rugby Union, Cairns and District Athletics Association, Australian Spor ...

. On 25 June 2023, Neale came out of retirement to play for the Fassifern Bombers in the

Ipswich Rugby League The Ipswich Rugby League is a rugby league football competition based in Ipswich, Queensland. It is under the administration of the Queensland Rugby League through the South East Queensland Division, which also administers the Brisbane and Gol ...

. He won his comeback game 32–10 against the North Ipswich Tigers at Harrisville.

Representative career

In 2013, Neale played for the Queensland Residents. In 2017, Neale played for Queensland Residents In 2019, Neale played Prop for Queensland Residents in their 42–22 win over NSW Residents

References

External links

2014 South Sydney Rabbitohs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neale, Nathaniel 1988 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Auckland rugby league team players Ipswich Jets players Mount Albert Lions players New Zealand rugby league players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players Queensland Residents rugby league team players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows South Sydney Rabbitohs players