Patrick Carrigan (born 1 January 1998) is an Australian professional rugby league player who plays as a lock for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia at international level.

Patrick Carrigan
Personal information
Full namePatrick Carrigan
Born (1998-01-01) 1 January 1998 (age 26)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Height190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight106 kg (16 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionLock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2019– Brisbane Broncos 105 4 0 0 16
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018 Queensland Residents 1 0 0 0 0
2022–24 Queensland 9 0 0 0 0
2022–24 Australia 11 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 5 september 2024

He has played at representative level for Queensland in State of Origin, winning the Wally Lewis Medal in 2022.

Background

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Carrigan was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to parents from both Queensland and New South Wales.[2] He attended St Laurence's College, South Brisbane from year 5 to 7 and he completed his schooling at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace in Brisbane[3] where he was School Captain in 2015. There he played Rugby Union and captained their 1st XV.[4][5][6] He was selected for Metropolitan North School Sports Rugby League in 2015.

Carrigan played his junior football for the Easts Tigers before being signed by the Brisbane Broncos.[7]

A UQ Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) student, he received a UQ Blue sporting honour in 2019, only the third Rugby League player to win this award since 1912.[8]

Carrigan is eligible to play for the Ireland national rugby league team via the heritage rule.[9] Efforts were made to recruit Carrigan for the 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup with Carrigan ultimately being selected and playing for the Australia national rugby league team.

Playing career

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Early career

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Carrigan played for the Brisbane Broncos in the Holden Cup from 2016 to 2017, winning the Broncos NYC U20s Player of The Year award both seasons, Broncos NYC U20s Best Forward in 2016 and Broncos NYC U20s Players' Player in 2017.[citation needed]

 
Carrigan playing for Brisbane in 2017

Carrigan was named in the 2017 NYC Team of The Year at prop.[10]

Carrigan represented Queensland U18s in 2016 starting at prop and Queensland U20s in 2017 off the bench and captained the QLD U20s in 2018, starting at prop in QLDs first ever win in the U20s, winning 30 to 12 vs the NSW U20s.[11]

In 2018 with the Holden Cup ceasing, Carrigan would continue to develop with the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the Intrust Super Cup and would be rewarded with selection for the Junior Kangaroos, starting at prop in the 40-24 win over the Junior Kiwis.

2019

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In Round 5, 2019 Carrigan made his NRL debut for the Brisbane Broncos against the Wests Tigers. Carrigan would finish the season with 19 games played and would be awarded a joint winner of the Broncos Rookie of The Year award alongside fellow Broncos U20s graduate Thomas Flegler.[citation needed]

2020

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With regular captain Alex Glenn missing the start of the 2020 NRL season due to injury, Carrigan would co-captain Brisbane for the first two rounds of the 2020 NRL season alongside recruit Brodie Croft having only previously played 19 NRL games in his career.

Carrigan made 19 appearances for Brisbane captaining in 12 of those games in the 2020 NRL season as the club finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon for the first time in their history.[12]

Carrigan would win both the Broncos Player of The Year & Players' Player awards alongside Payne Haas, while being the sole recipient of the Broncos Most Consistent award.[citation needed]

2021

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In Round 9 of the 2021 NRL season, Carrigan suffered a season ending ACL injury during Brisbane's 19-18 loss against arch-rivals North Queensland.[13]

2022

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Returning from his ACL in Round 1, Carrigan would return finding career best form for a reborn Brisbane, helping return the club to the Top 4 mid-way through the competition, Carrigan would produce career best numbers to gain his maiden State of Origin jumper after just 8 games back. Carrigan played the first two games from the bench and the final game starting at lock. He became the first player in their debut series to win the Wally Lewis Medal.

Following Brisbane's shock loss against the Wests Tigers in round 20 of the 2022 NRL season, Carrigan was referred straight to the NRL judiciary after he performed a hip drop tackle on Wests Tigers Jackson Hastings which ended the players season. As a result of the tackle, Carrigan was suspended for four weeks.[14]

 
Carrigan playing for Australia in 2022

In October he was named in the Australia squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.[15] Carrigan played for Australia in their World Cup final victory over Samoa.[16]

2023

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Carrigan re-signed his contract with the club until at least the end of the 2028 season.[17] In round 22 of the 2023 NRL season, Carrigan scored his first ever try in the NRL as Brisbane defeated the Sydney Roosters 32-10.[18] Carrigan played 23 games for Brisbane in the 2023 NRL season. Carrigan played in Brisbane's 26-24 loss against Penrith in the 2023 NRL Grand Final.[19]

2024

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On 12 February, a video emerged of Carrigan and teammate Adam Reynolds being involved in a melee after the Brisbane club's annual fan day with one of the onlookers saying "let go of him... Adam... Pat... stop". It was alleged Reynolds had told Carrigan who was intoxicated to get a taxi and go home which started the fight. The Brisbane club then released a statement which read "The Broncos are looking into an incident involving some of its playing group in Brisbane City last night, The club was made aware of the incident last night and has been speaking to players across the course of the day to clarify details of what occurred.The NRL Integrity Unit has been informed of the matter."[20] Carrigan played 22 games for Brisbane in the 2024 NRL season which saw the club miss the finals finishing 12th on the table.[21]

Statistics

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Year Team Games Tries Pts
2019   Brisbane Broncos 19
2020 19
2021 8
2022 14
2023 23 2 8
2024 21 2 4
Totals 105 4 16

Honours

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Individual

Representative

International

References

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  1. ^ "Patrick Carrigan - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  2. ^ "How deep does Queensland really run in the Maroons? 😉 #Maroons #qldmaroons #triplem #brisbane #bronc". YouTube. 27 May 2024.
  3. ^ RA & the private schoolboy image ABC News 14 June 2023
  4. ^ "Patrick Carrigan". Titanium Sports Management. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  5. ^ "How Broncos prospect resisted rugby's lure". National Rugby League. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Pat makes the big league and The Chief couldn't be prouder". Goondiwindi Argus. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Pat Carrigan set to cap stunning NRL rise with leadership role". The Australian. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Follow my lead : UQ student to co-captain Brisbane Broncos against Cowboys". University of Queensland. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  9. ^ "More NRL players keen to represent Ireland at World Cup". 18 August 2022.
  10. ^ "NYC Team of The Year Named". www.the18thman.com. 4 September 2017.
  11. ^ "QLD U20 Official Team Photo". www.qrl.com.au. 9 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Brisbane get wooden spoon as North Queensland finish on a high". www.nrl.com. 24 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Carrigan's ACL tear raises five unlikely Broncos captaincy contenders". www.nrl.com. 10 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Broncos' Pat Carrigan breaks rivals leg in 'horrendous' tackle". www.news.com.au.
  15. ^ "Full list of every squad at the Rugby League World Cup 2021". LoveRugbyLeague. 4 October 2022.
  16. ^ McLaughlin, Luke (19 November 2022). "Australia 30-10 Samoa: Rugby League World Cup final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  17. ^ "Carrigan locks in another four years with Broncos". 9 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Chooks cooked despite veteran's historic feat as Bronco breaks 78-game try duck — 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au. 27 July 2023.
  19. ^ Howcroft, Jonathan (October 2023). "NRL grand final 2023: Penrith Panthers defeat Brisbane Broncos – as it happened". The Guardian.
  20. ^ "'Adam...Pat...stop!': Superstar pair in bust-up after Broncos fan day". www.foxsports.com.au. 13 February 2024.
  21. ^ "'Really can't hide': Queensland superstars back under-siege Walters amid Broncos review". www.foxsports.com.au.
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