Michael Chee-Kam

Michael Chee-Kam (born 26 February 1992) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row or centre for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League. He previously played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

Michael Chee Kam
Personal information
Full nameMichael Chee-Kam
Born (1992-02-26) 26 February 1992
Auckland, New Zealand
Height192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 Manly Sea Eagles 5 0 0 0 0
2016– Wests Tigers 80 10 0 0 40
Total 85 10 0 0 40
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018– Samoa 2 0 0 0 0
2019– Samoa 9s 4 0 0 0 0
As of 26 October 2020
Source: [1]

Background

Chee-Kam was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and is of Samoan and Chinese descent.[2]

An alumnus of Tamaki College, he played his junior rugby league for the Mount Wellington Warriors, before being signed by the Melbourne Storm.

Playing career

Early career

After playing in the lower grades at the Melbourne Storm, Chee-Kam joined the Canberra Raiders in 2010.[3] From 2010 to 2012, he played for the Raiders' National Youth Competition (NYC) team.[4] In November and December 2010, he played for the Australian Schoolboys.[5][6] In May 2012, he signed a 3-year contract with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles starting in 2013.[7] On 21 August 2012, he was named at second-row in the 2012 NYC Team of the Year.[8]

Chee-Kam playing for the Sea Eagles in 2014

2014

In Round 26 of the 2014 NRL season, Chee-Kam made his National Rugby League debut for the Sea Eagles against the North Queensland Cowboys.[9][10]

2015

On 3 August 2015, after limited opportunities with the Sea Eagles, Chee-Kam signed a 1-year contract with the Wests Tigers starting in 2016.[11] After being told he was unwanted by Manly, he played 4 games for them towards the end of the season. He said, "I didn't think they were going to give me those games that I played at the end after they told me that, so I was pretty happy with those couple of games that I got. I used that to build my confidence and get some experience playing at the top level."[12]

2016

In Round 9, Chee-Kam made his Tigers debut against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.[13][14] On 25 May, he re-signed with the Tigers on a 1-year contract.[15]

2017

With Tim Simona de-registered by the NRL and Jamal Idris lacking the fitness to play 80 minutes, Chee-Kam was named at centre for the opening rounds of the season. He said, "I remember when I was on the fringes and seeing a couple of boys come off I would get a little opportunity and you have to make the most of it. I'm trying to feed off that. This is a small opportunity to hold this position and I need to make the most of it."[16]

In April, Chee-Kam extended his contract to the end of the 2019 season, saying, "I feel like I've made a family here, I'm really close with all the boys and have made some great friendships and it's exciting to know I'll be here for a while longer. I want this to be my last club and I'm really grateful and blessed to have been given this opportunity."[17] With further injuries to players (including centre Moses Suli), Chee-Kam remained in first grade for most of the season, playing 22 games. In round 13, he scored his first try in the match against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

2018

Chee-Kam was again a regular in first grade in 2018, mostly playing from the bench. Towards the end of the season, he spent some time in the starting team. Playing on the left age after an injury to Chris Lawrence, he was averaging 120 metres with the ball and 34 tackles per game in this period.[18]

2019

In Round 5 against the Brisbane Broncos, Chee-Kam scored the match winning try for the Tigers as they won the game 22-16 at Suncorp Stadium. He had run from in-field with a minute remaining and proceeded to beat five Broncos players to score next to the posts.[19]

In Round 15 against South Sydney, Chee-Kam scored the winning try for Wests in the final 3 minutes of the game in the club's 14-9 victory at the new Western Sydney Stadium.[20]

Chee-Kam played 22 games for Wests in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished ninth on the table and missed out on the finals. Wests had the chance to finish as high as seventh on the table but lost their final game of the season against Cronulla at Leichhardt Oval.[21][22][23]

2020

In round 11 against Parramatta, Chee-Kam was taken from the field on a stretcher and sent to hospital after being knocked out attempting to tackle one of the Parramatta players. Chee Kam was then seen shaking on the ground after apparently suffering a seizure. Wests would go on to lose the match 26-16 at Bankwest Stadium.[24]

Assault charge

On 3 January 2019, Chee-Kam along with another man was charged by police for assaulting an Uber driver at Bondi Beach in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. The alleged incident happened on Sunday 30 December 2018 at 10:30PM. Chee-Kam and the other man allegedly punched the driver multiple times through the driver's side window.[25]

On May 1, 2019, Chee-Kam pleaded guilty to common assault. He was subsequently suspended for two matches by Wests Tigers and fined an undisclosed amount.[26]

References
  1. "Michael Chee Kam - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 1992-02-26. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  2. "China Rugby League". Leagueoftitans.com.au. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  3. Lee Gaskin. "Sea Eagles swoop on young Raiders star for three years". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  4. "C". NYC DATABASE. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  5. "2010 Australian Schoolboys Team Announced - Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". Foxsportspulse.com. 2011-06-25. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  6. "The Greenhouse • View topic - Wighton and Chee-Kam make Australian Schoolboys". Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  7. "Sea Eagles swoop on young Raiders star for three years". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  8. "Toyota Cup Team of the Year". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League - NRL.com. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  9. "LATE MAIL: Stewart struck down by injury". Sea Eagles. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  10. "Updated Team Lists: Round 26". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League - NRL.com. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  11. "Wests Tigers strengthen 2016 squad". NRL - Zero Tackle. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  12. Chris Kennedy. "Chee Kam spies opportunity in youth". nrl.com.
  13. "Updated team lists: Rabbitohs v Tigers". NRL.com. 2016-02-28. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  14. NRL. "Late Changes: NRL Round 9 vs. Rabbitohs - Tigers". Weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  15. "Wests Tigers re-sign Michael Chee Kam". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  16. Adam Pengilly. "Wests Tigers centre Michael Chee-Kam benefits from Tim Simona's deregistration". Sydney Morning Herald.
  17. Joshua Thomas. "Tigers re-sign Australian former Schoolboy". Sporting News.
  18. Dan Talintyre. "Chee Kam enjoying good form and finals chance". weststigers.com.au.
  19. "Wife's faith prepared Chee Kam for magic moment". www.nrl.com.
  20. "Michael Chee Kam solo try sinks Bunnies for Tigers win; George Burgess in hot water over eye gouge". Fox Sports.
  21. "Ruled out, Farah gets last-minute call-up after warm-up injury". NRL.
  22. "Robbie Farah's cryptic chat with Paul Gallen ahead of Leichhardt Oval showdown". WWOS.
  23. "Cronulla Sharks ruin fairytale for Wests Tigers' Robbie Farah". ESPN.
  24. "Parramatta Eels beat Wests Tigers". www.abc.net.au.
  25. "Chee Kam charged over assault of uber driver". www.smh.com.au.
  26. "Michael Chee Kam gets two-game NRL ban from Tigers". www.foxsports.com.au.
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