Phillip Sami (born 2 August 1997) 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 er and for 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 ...

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). Sami has also represented his home state,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, in the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two States and territories of Australia, Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales Blues and the Queensland ru ...

Background

Sami was born in

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is an urban centre within the City of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River (Queensland), Bremer River, it is approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. Ipswich is ...

, to Samoan parents. He played his junior rugby league for the Springfield Panthers, Goodna Eagles, and for

Eastern Suburbs Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league ...

. Sami attended Ipswich State High School.

Playing career

Early career

In 2015, Sami played for the

in the Mal Meninga Cup. In 2016 and 2017, he played for the Gold Coast Titans' NYC team.

2017

On 31 May, he was selected in the Queensland under-20 rugby league team. In round 15 of the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th 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, ...

, Sami 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 the Titans against 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 September, he was named at centre in the NYC Team of the Year.

2018

In round 4 of the 2018 season, he scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

of tries against the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

, with the Gold Coast winning 26-14 at

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

2019

In round 23 of 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 ...

, Sami set a new record for the fastest Gold Coast Titans player in history by running 35.9 km/h in a chase-down of

Josh Addo-Carr Joshua Addo-Carr (born 28 July 1995), nicknamed "The Foxx", is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League and Australia at international level. Addo-Carr is a dual ...

. Sami made a total of 16 appearances for the Gold Coast in the

as the club endured a horror year on and off the field. During the halfway mark of the season, head coach Garth Brennan was sacked by the club after a string of poor results. The Gold Coast managed to win only 4 games for the entire season and finished last claiming the

Wooden Spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

2020

Sami started the first five games of the year at fullback under new coach Justin Holbrook due to injuries by

AJ Brimson Alexander James "AJ" Brimson (born 9 September 1998) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played for Queensland rugby league team, Queensland in the S ...

and Tyrone Roberts. In round 4, Sami scored the match winning try against

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 a 28-23 win from a Brian Kelly kick ending the Gold Coast's 364 day winning drought. Sami debuted for

in Origin 1 in Adelaide playing on the wing in a 18-14 win. Sami played game 2 as well, however was dropped for Origin 3 following a poor performance in game 2.

2021

Sami played 18 games for the Gold Coast 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 final loss 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 ...

2022

Sami played a total of 14 games for the Gold Coast and scored six tries 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 ...

as the club finished 13th on the table.

2023

Sami played a total of 21 matches for the Gold Coast in 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 ...

and scored 11 tries as the club finished 14th on the table.

2024

Sami made 13 appearances for the Gold Coast 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 ...

as the club finished 14th on the table.

Statistics

References

External links

Gold Coast Titans profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sami, Phillip 1997 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Gold Coast Titans players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Brisbane Tigers players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Ipswich, Queensland 21st-century Australian sportsmen