Born: December 24, 1994 – Christchurch Test record: 3 Tests (2023) – 1 try (4 points) Tours: 2023 Pacific Championships
Christchurch-born utility Fa’amanu Brown’s career has been a study in determination and perseverance, receiving a triumphant maiden Kiwis call-up in 2023 at the end of his 10th season in a nomadic rugby league existence.
The Hornby Panthers junior moved to Sydney as a 16-year-old and graduating from Endeavour Sports High School, as well as progressing through Cronulla Sharks’ SG Ball and NYC ranks.
Brown made his NRL debut for the Sharks as a 19-year-old five-eighth during the club’s strife-torn 2014 campaign, effectively replacing the sacked Todd Carney. But after 11 eye-catching rookie-season appearances – and call-ups to both the New Zealand and Samoa Four Nations train-on squads – he suffered a season-ending knee injury at the following year’s Auckland Nines.
Returning to the field in 2016, the tyro was restricted to NSW Cup duty with feeder club Newtown Jets, starring as a halfback, while Cronulla surged to NRL premiership glory. Brown played in the Sharks’ World Club Challenge clash with Wigan in early-2017 and made nine top-grade appearances for the defending champs to pique the interest of Canterbury-Bankstown.
A regular NRL spot proved elusive – he played 12 games in the top flight for the Bulldogs across 2018-19 – but he won a NSW Cup grand final and State Championship with the club in 2018. Despite being named the Bulldogs’ NSW Cup Player of the Year in 2019, he was released at the end of the season.
Brown’s career hung in the balance after breaking the navicular bone in his foot – a complex injury from which many athletes don’t recover sufficiently to carry on playing at an elite level. But he regrouped via taking an opportunity with Featherstone Rovers, who play in England’s second division, after spending another entire season on the sidelines in 2020. He was a revelation in the halves for the club, scoring 16 tries in 25 games and helping Rovers to a grand final.
The versatile performer grabbed a train-and-trial chance with Wests Tigers in 2022 and scored six tries in 13 NRL games. A Toa Samoa rep in mid-season Tests in 2016-17, as well as the island nation’s disappointing World Cup campaign in the latter year, Brown’s five-year international hiatus ended when he was called up to play against Cook Islands during 2022. His stellar form for the Tigers garnered a spot in Samoa’s World Cup squad.
Brown scored a try off the bench against Greece and stepped into the hooker hot-seat for the semi-finals after Danny Levi withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons, playing his part in Samoa’s euphoric 27-26 golden point boilover against England at Emirates Stadium in front of more than 40,000 fans. A head knock ruled Brown out of the final, where a gallant Samoa went down 30-10 to Australia.
Returning to the Bulldogs, a shoulder injury in 2023 stunted his progress in familiar fashion but he made five NRL appearances before being snapped up late in the campaign by Newcastle Knights, playing another two top-grade games.
With the likes of Brandon Smith, Jeremy Marshall-King and Kodi Nikorima ruled out of contention, Brown was selected in the Kiwis’ 2023 Pacific Championship squad – and parlayed his unlikely call-up into a vital role in New Zealand’s triumph.
After initially being named at hooker for the opening game against Samoa, the 28-year-old came off the bench in all three matches. He set up a try on debut against the nation he represented in 2022, scored a trademark try burrowing close to the line in the 36-18 round-robin loss to Australia, and played 36 minutes of the Kiwis’ amazing, record-shattering 30-0 defeat of the Kangaroos in the final.
Brown linked with a fifth NRL club, St George Illawarra Dragons, in 2024.
