Jordan McLean


Jordan McLean is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL and Australia at international level.
He was a member of the Melbourne Storm's 2017 NRL Grand Final winning team and Australia's 2017 Rugby League World Cup winning side. McLean played for NSW Country, World All Stars and the Prime Minister's XIII.

Early life

McLean was born in Sydney, Australia and is of Māori descent. He was educated at Young High School.
Jordan played his junior rugby league for the Young Cherrypickers. He was then signed by the Canberra Raiders and played for them in the Harold Matthews Cup before being signed by the Melbourne Storm.
He played for the Storm's NYC team from 2009 to 2011 and was a part of their 2009 NYC premiership winning team.

Playing career

2013

On 10 June 2013, McLean re-signed with the Storm for a further 3 years, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2016 season. In Round 11 of the 2013 NRL season, McLean made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm against the Sydney Roosters at the SFS from the interchange bench in the Storm's 26–18 win. In Round 23 against the Newcastle Knights at Hunter Stadium, McLean scored his first career try in the Storm's 23–10 win. McLean finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 14 matches and scoring a try for the Storm.

2014

In Round 3 of the 2014 NRL season the Melbourne Storm played the Newcastle Knights at a home game at AAMI Park in the Storm's 28–20 win, shortly before half-time, McLean was involved in a 3-man tackle with team mates Jesse and Kenny Bromwich, where Knights forward Alex McKinnon subsequently suffered fractures to C4 and C5 vertebrae and was admitted to Melbourne's The Alfred Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. Early reports were that McKinnon was unlikely to walk again. McLean expressed his sympathies to McKinnon through a Facebook post that read "Best wishes to Alex McKinnon, I genuinely hope you're alright and have a safe recovery". On 2 April, McLean appeared before the NRL Judiciary. McLean's lawyer Nick Ghabar, urged the panel to remove any emotion from the case and to exercise their common sense as former players, to accept the tackle was an accident, however, his client was given a seven-match suspension. A devastated McLean could not bear to look at numerous replays of the tackle. McLean returned to the Storm side in Round 14 against the Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium, playing in the Storm's 24–20 win. He finished off the 2014 season having played in 16 matches and scoring 3 tries for the Storm.

2015

On 24 March 2015, McLean re-signed with Storm for a further three years, keeping him at the club to the end of the 2018 season. McLean finished off the 2015 season having played in 15 matches for the Storm.

2016

On 8 May 2016, McLean played for New South Wales Country against New South Wales City, playing off the interchange bench in the 44–30 loss in Tamworth. On 2 October 2016, in the Storm's 2016 NRL Grand Final against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, McLean started at prop in the 14–12 defeat. McLean finished the 2016 NRL season with him playing in 21 matches for the Storm.

2017

On 10 February 2017, McLean played for the World All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars in the 2017 All Stars match, starting at prop in the 34–8 loss at Hunter Stadium. On 20 March 2017, McLean signed with the North Queensland Cowboys on a three-year deal, starting in 2018. In May 2017, McLean was named as 18th man for Australia in the 2017 ANZAC Test match against New Zealand and for New South Wales for Game 1 of the 2017 State of Origin series. On 1 October 2017, in the Storm's 2017 NRL Grand Final against the North Queensland Cowboys, McLean started at prop in the 34–6 victory against his future club. McLean finished his last year with the Melbourne Storm with him playing in 20 matches in the 2016 NRL season. On 3 October 2017, McLean was rewarded for his big season by being selected in the 24-man Kangaroos squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. McLean played in all 6 matches of the tournament including starting at prop in the Kangaroos 6–0 gritty win against England in the World Cup Final at Suncorp Stadium.

2018

In Round 1 of the 2018 NRL season, McLean made his club debut for the North Queensland Cowboys against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, starting at prop in the 20–14 win at 1300SMILES Stadium. In Round 2 against the Brisbane Broncos in the Queensland derby match, Mclean scored his first club try for the Cowboys in the 24–20 loss at Suncorp Stadium. In the Cowboys' Round 4 loss to the Penrith Panthers, McLean suffered a foot injury, sidelining him for four months. He returned from injury in the Cowboys' Round 20 win over the Newcastle Knights.
Following a strong finish to the season, McLean was recalled to the Australian squad for their end of season Test matches against New Zealand and Tonga. On 6 October, he represented the Prime Minister's XIII in their win over the PNG Prime Minister's XIII side.

2019

On 8 March 2019, McLean was named vice-captain of the Cowboys. He played 22 games for the club in 2019, starting all 22 at prop. In Round 4, he played his 100th NRL game in the Cowboys' 12–30 loss to the Canberra Raiders. In Round 13, he sustained a hamstring injury in the Cowboys' loss to the Manly Sea Eagles. The injury dashed his hopes of replacing the injured David Klemmer in the New South Wales Game 2 side. He returned to the Cowboys line up in Round 15, missing just one game. On 18 September, he won the Cowboys' 2019 Players' Player award at the club's presentation night.

Achievements and accolades

Individual

International