# Brandon Wakeham

Brandon Wakeham (born 11 January 1999) is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as a Five-eighth, Halfback or hooker for Blacktown Workers in the NSW Cup. He previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Wests Tigers.

## Background

Wakeham was born in Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Fijian and Lebanese descent.
He played his junior rugby league for Chester Hill Hornets.

## Playing career
### 2019

He made his international debut for Fiji in their 56-14 victory vs Lebanon in the 2019 Pacific Test, where he scored 20 points in the match.
In round 15 of the 2019 NRL season, Wakeham made his NRL debut for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs off the interchange bench in his sides 14-12 win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Wakeham played majority of the game at five-eighth after Kieran Foran left the field in the early stages due to injury.

### 2020

Wakeham played a total of 16 appearances for Canterbury in the 2020 NRL season. The club finished in 15th place on the table, only avoiding the Wooden Spoon by for and against.

### 2021

In round 7 of the 2021 NRL season, Wakeham became the first ever 18th man to take the field after Canterbury-Bankstown suffered a concussion which invoked the new 18th man rule which had been brought in by the NRL.
Wakeham made a total of eight appearances as Canterbury claimed the wooden spoon.

### 2022

On 1 June, Wakeham was suspended for four matches after being found guilty of eye gouging St. George Illawarra's Tyrell Sloan during a NSW Cup game at Belmore Sports Ground. He played a total of eight games for the club in the 2022 NRL season. Wakeham captained Canterbury's NSW Cup team in their grand final loss to Penrith at the Western Sydney Stadium.

### 2023

On 24 January, Wakeham signed a one-year deal to join the Wests Tigers ahead of the 2023 NRL season. Wakeham played a total of 15 games for the Wests Tigers in the 2023 NRL season with 2 tries and 8 try assists and kicking 27/33 goals as the club finished with the Wooden Spoon for a second straight year.

### 2024

On 9 January 2024, it was announced that he would join Blacktown Workers for 2024. In December, Wakeham was handed a lifeline by Manly as they had given him a train and trial contract.

## Controversy

On 25 June 2021, Wakeham was one of three Canterbury players who were ordered to self-isolate after attending a Covid-19 exposure site in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. The NRL had ordered players of all 16 teams a week earlier not to attend any restaurants, clubs or bars in the Waverley Local Government area.
On 15 May 2024, it was alleged that Wakeham had been arrested by police at a Blacktown Workers training session. It had been reported that Wakeham was not charged by police but was suspected of possessing cocaine and supplying MDMA. The following day, Wakeham was granted bail in court. He was charged with taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug in greater than a large commercial quantity, taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug in greater than an indictable amount and less than a commercial quantity, and participating in a criminal group. On 12 November it was announced that all the charges against Wakeham had been dropped.