Nene Macdonald facts for kids
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Personal information
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| Full name | Bosam Nene Macdonald | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 11 May 1995 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea |
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| Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 102 kg (16 st 1 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Playing information
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| Position | Wing, Centre, Fullback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 28 December 2024
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Nene Macdonald (born 11 May 1994) is a professional rugby league player from Papua New Guinea. He plays as a winger or centre for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. He also represents his home country, Papua New Guinea, in international games.
Nene has played for many other teams. These include the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League and the Leigh Centurions in the Championship. In Australia, he played for the Sydney Roosters, Gold Coast Titans, St George Illawarra Dragons, North Queensland Cowboys, and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL. He also played for the Northern Pride RLFC and Norths Devils in the Queensland Cup, and the Wyong Roos and Newtown Jets in the NSW Cup. He has also played for the World All Stars team.
Contents
Background
Nene Macdonald was born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. When he was young, he moved to Queensland, Australia. He started playing junior rugby league for the Cairns Brothers team. Later, he was signed by the Gold Coast Titans.
Club Career
Starting His Journey (2012-2014)
In 2012, Nene joined the Sydney Roosters. He played for their junior team, called the NYC team, in 2012 and 2013.
In 2014, Nene was chosen for the Roosters' 2014 NRL Auckland Nines team. He made his first NRL appearance in Round 11 of the 2014 NRL season. He played for the Roosters against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and scored a try. He played 7 games and scored 3 tries in his first NRL year. He was also named on the wing in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year.
Moving to Gold Coast (2015-2016)
In 2015, Nene played for the Roosters in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.
In June, he signed a contract with the Gold Coast Titans. He made his debut for the Titans in Round 15 against the New Zealand Warriors. He scored his first try for the Titans in Round 16 against his old team, the Sydney Roosters. He played 4 games for the Roosters and 11 for the Titans in 2015, scoring 4 tries in total.
In February 2016, he played for the Titans in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines. In August, he signed a three-year contract with the St George Illawarra Dragons, starting in 2017. He finished the 2016 season having played 23 games and scoring 10 tries for the Titans.
Time with St George Illawarra (2017-2018)
In February 2017, Nene was part of the Dragons' 2017 NRL Auckland Nines team. In Round 1 of the 2017 NRL season, he made his debut for the St George Illawarra Dragons. He played on the wing against the Penrith Panthers in a big win.
In October 2018, Nene signed a three-year contract with the North Queensland Cowboys, starting in 2019.
Playing for North Queensland and Cronulla (2019-2020)
In Round 1 of the 2019 NRL season, Nene made his debut for North Queensland. He scored a try in their win against his former club, the St George Illawarra Dragons. In Round 5, he got an ankle injury.
In June, Nene was involved in a traffic incident. He was later released by North Queensland in July.
On 11 June 2020, Nene signed with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks after a year away from the game. He made his debut for Cronulla in Round 9 against Penrith and scored a try.
Journey to England (2021-2022)
In 2021, Nene played four games for the Norths Devils in the Queensland Cup. He was part of their team that won the Grand Final 16-10. In November, he signed a short-term deal with the Brisbane Broncos.
Later in November, it was announced that Nene would play for Leigh in the Betfred Championship. Their coach was Adrian Lam, also from Papua New Guinea.
In Round 1 of the 2022 season, Nene scored three tries (a hat-trick) in his first game for Leigh. This was a big 50-4 win. In May, Nene helped Leigh win the 2022 RFL 1895 Cup final. In July, he scored another hat-trick in Leigh's 66-0 victory.
On 3 October 2022, Nene scored a try in the Million Pound Game. This win helped Leigh get promoted back to the Super League. In November 2022, Nene joined Leeds Rhinos for the 2023 season.
Time with Leeds and Salford (2023-2024)
In Round 2 of the 2023 Super League season, Nene made his debut for Leeds. He played 19 games for Leeds in 2023. The team finished 8th and missed the playoffs.
On 16 October 2023, it was announced that Nene signed a four-year deal to join Salford for the 2024 season.
In Round 1 of the 2024 Super League season, Nene made his debut for Salford against his old team, Leeds. At the end of the season, Nene was the only Salford player chosen for the Super League Dream Team.
Representative Career
In 2005, Nene played for the Australian Schoolboys. In 2013 and 2014, he played for the Queensland Under-20s team.
In 2016, Nene was chosen for the QAS Emerging Maroons squad. He was also named to play for the World All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars. He played on the wing in his team's 12-8 win.
On 10 February 2017, Nene played for the World All Stars again. He scored a try in that game. Nene also played for Papua New Guinea in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
International Career
In 2013, Nene made his debut for Papua New Guinea. He scored a try against the PNG Prime Minister's XIII team. He was then chosen for the Papua New Guinea squad for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. He played in 3 matches and scored one try.
In 2015, he played for Papua New Guinea against Fiji in the 2015 Melanesian Cup.
On 7 May 2016, he played for Papua New Guinea against Fiji in the Melanesian Cup. He played at centre and scored a try in Papua New Guinea's 24-22 win.
In 2022, Nene was selected for the Papua New Guinea Squad at the 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup in England. He played in all the group stage matches and the quarter-final.
Nene was a key player in Papua New Guinea's successful 2023 Pacific Bowl campaign. He scored four tries against the Cook Islands, helping his team win the Bowl.
In 2024, Nene played in Papua New Guinea's unbeaten run in the 2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships. He played at Fullback and scored a try against Fiji. He also scored two tries against the Cook Islands.
