Michael Chee Kam

Michael Chee Kam
Personal information
Born (1992-02-26) 26 February 1992
Auckland, New Zealand
Height 192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
Position Second-row, Centre

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 Manly Sea Eagles 5 0 0 0 0
2016– Wests Tigers 49 4 0 0 16
Total 54 4 0 0 16
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018 Samoa 1 0 0 0 0
As of 4 March 2018
Source: [1]

Michael Chee Kam (born 26 February 1992) is a Samoan international professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League. He primarily plays as a second-row forward, but can also fill in at centre, and previously played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

Background

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Chee Kam 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' 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 NRL 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]

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 former Australian Schoolboy". Sporting News.
  18. ↑ Dan Talintyre. "Chee Kam enjoying good form and finals chance". weststigers.com.au.
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