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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Brendan Hands | |||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Castlereagh, New South Wales, Australia | 2 December 1999|||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Hooker | |||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 1 April 2024 |
Brendan Hands (born 2 December 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as hooker for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Hands was a Brothers Penrith junior who played both rugby league and basketball.[1] From a young age his coaches said that he would be a NRL player.[2] He would join the Penrith Panthers playing for their Jersey Flegg Cup under 20's team in 2019, winning the club's Junior Education Award.[3] In 2020, he was a part of Penrith's first grade squad.[4]
In 2022, Hands signed with the Parramatta Eels to play in the NSW Cup competition. Hands played 23 games for Parramatta's NSW Cup team in 2022.[4]
In round 4 of the 2023 NRL season, Hands made his NRL debut for Parramatta[5] against his former club, Penrith at Western Sydney Stadium and scored a try in his side's 17−16 golden point extra-time victory.[6][4][7][8] Hands played a total of 19 matches for Parramatta in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 10th and missed the finals.[9] After Parramatta's upset loss to the Wests Tigers in round 4 of the 2024 NRL season, Hands was demoted to reserve grade by Parramatta head coach Brad Arthur.[10]