Thomas Dearden (born 13 March 2001) 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 captains and plays as a for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

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

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 ...

in the NRL as a . He has played at representative level for

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

Dearden was born in

Toowoomba, Queensland Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

, Australia. He settled in Mackay and attended Mackay State High School until grade 10. He played junior rugby league for the Brothers Bulldogs Mackay before moving to the Gold Coast, where he played for the Currumbin Eagles and attended

Palm Beach Currumbin State High School Palm Beach Currumbin State High School is an independent public, co-educational, secondary school, located in the Gold Coast suburb of Palm Beach, in Queensland, Australia. It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment ...

Career

Early career

In 2016, Dearden played for the

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in 2007, alongside th ...

Cyril Connell Cup The Cyril Connell Challenge is an under-16 competition administered by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition was named after Cyril Connell Jr., who played 24 games for Queensland and 2 Tests for Australia. The tournament mainly features ...

side. In 2017, he moved to the Gold Coast to play at the Currumbin Eagles in their undefeated U16 premiership winning side under the guise of ex Melbourne Storm player and now coach

Matt Geyer Matt Geyer (born 5 September 1975) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. A New South Wales State of Origin representative , he played his club football primarily with the Melbourne Storm of the National Rugby League c ...

. in the Currumbin U16 side, Dearden played alongside fellow Queensland team mate

Xavier Coates Xavier Coates (born 12 March 2001) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League and Papua New Guinea at international level. He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos. He ...

and current Bulldogs half,

Toby Sexton Toby Sexton (born 1 March 2001) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League (NRL). Background Sexton was born in Sunnybank, a suburb of Brisbane, Que ...

. Dearden represented the Queensland under-16 side. In 2018, he played for the

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two club teams based outside of Queensland to play in the Queensland C ...

Mal Meninga Cup The Mal Meninga Cup, known as the Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup due to sponsorship, is a junior rugby league football competition based in Queensland, played between teams made up of players aged under 18. The competition, administered by the Q ...

side, who made it to the semi-finals of the competition, and later represented the Queensland under-18 team. Later that season, he was a member of

ARL Schoolboy Cup The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier Education in Australia#Secondary schools, secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive A ...

winning side, receiving the

Peter Sterling Medal The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive Alive Cup and GIO Schoolboy Cup nearly 450 ...

for player of the tournament. In November and December 2018, he was a member of the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

tour of England.

2019

In Round 8 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 ...

, Dearden made his NRL debut for the

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 ...

2020

Dearden made 12 appearances for Brisbane 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 suffered their worst ever year both on and off the field culminating in the club's first

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 ...

2021

Dearden began the 2021 season playing for the

Souths Logan Magpies The Souths Logan Magpies, more commonly referred to by their former names Southern Suburbs Magpies, or South Brisbane Magpies, or often simply referred to as Souths, are a rugby league football club based in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Au ...

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 ...

, before being recalled into the Brisbane side in Round 3. On 26 April, he signed a three-year contract with the

, starting in 2022. On 29 May, he secured an immediate release from the

to join the North Queensland Cowboys for the remainder of 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 ...

. Dearden made his North Queensland debut in round 14 against

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

in a 50-18 defeat. In Round 20, Dearden played his first game against his ex club

, Dearden scored a try in the 37-18 loss. In round 24, North Queensland defeated St. George Illawarra 38-26. It was Dearden's first win at the club and first win in any NRL match since round 3 when he was at Brisbane, ending 14 losses in a row as a player.

2022

Following a strong start to the season for North Queensland, Dearden was selected in the extended

Queensland Maroons The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales rugby league tea ...

squad for Game 1 of State of Origin in Sydney. In Game 2, he was named 18th man before making his debut at Five-Eighth in the decider for Game 3 where Queensland emerged victorious 22-12. Dearden played 23 matches for North Queensland 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 third on the table and qualified for the finals. He played in both finals matches including their preliminary final loss to

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 ...

2023

In round 11 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 ...

, Dearden scored two tries for North Queensland in their 42-22 victory over St. George Illawarra. He was 18th Man for the Queensland Maroons in Game I of the 2023 State of Origin series. Dearden played 23 games for North Queensland in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 11th on the table. On 19 December, Dearden signed a contract extension to remain at North Queensland until the end of 2029.

2024

In round 11 of 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 ...

, Dearden scored two tries for North Queensland in their 28-22 victory over the bottom placed South Sydney side. With Cameron Munster injured, Dearden was named as five-eighth for Queensland ahead of game one in 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 ...

. Dearden played 24 games for North Queensland in the 2024 NRL season as they finished 5th on the table. Dearden played in both finals games for North Queensland as they were eliminated in the second week by Cronulla. On 2 October, Dearden won the Dally M five-eighth of the year award. On 18 October, Dearden made his Test debut for

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 ...

, starting at and scoring a try in their 18–0 win over

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

in the Pacific Championships. On 10 November, Dearden was named Player of the Match in Australia's Pacific Championship final win over Tonga.

Honours

Individual * Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year: 2024 Representative * State of Origin Series: 2022 * Pacific Championship: 2024

Statistics

References

External links

NRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dearden, Thomas 2001 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players North Queensland Cowboys captains North Queensland Cowboys players Prime Minister's XIII players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Toowoomba Souths Logan Magpies players Wynnum Manly Seagulls players 21st-century Australian sportsmen Rugby league five-eighths