Broncos halfback Tom Dearden has signed with North Queensland with Brisbane confirming he has informed them he will play at the Cowboys from 2022 onwards on a three-year deal.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten was delighted to secure the services of the 20-year-old Mackay product, who has appeared in 22 NRL games over the course of three seasons for the Broncos.
Dearden was a member of the Cowboys’ Mackay Academy as a teenager and starred for the Cutters’ under 16s side in 2016 before relocating to the Gold Coast to attend Palm Beach Currumbin High School the following year.
In 2018, Dearden was an integral member of Palm Beach’s ARL Schoolboy Cup winning side and received the Peter Sterling Medal for Player of the Tournament. He was also selected in the Australian Schoolboys side to tour England at the end of the season.
Brisbane coach Kevin Walters is wary of throwing Tom Dearden to the wolves, insisting the young halfback’s slow nurturing into the NRL will better serve the rising star s career in the long term.
Walters is coming under increasing pressure to give Dearden the game time he craves without burdening him with the expectation to do it all as the Broncos rebuild from a wooden spoon season in which the 20-year-old failed to win a game.
Dearden had a late seven-minute cameo in Brisbane’s 24-0 win over Canterbury last Saturday and while Walters hinted he would come off the bench against the Storm in Melbourne on Friday night, don’t be surprised if the coach pulls a late change to start him at halfback.
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Subscriber only A Palm Beach Currumbin High School teacher says he s embarrassed by his behaviour after he stole an eftpos machine from an Airlie Beach nightclub. Benjamin John Opie, 36, was at a nightclub called Mama Africa when he was seen on CCTV footage walking past the bar before taking the eftpos machine. Palm Beach Currumbin High School teacher Benjamin John Opie. Proserpine Magistrates Court heard he then put it under his shirt and walked out onto the street. Opie told the court he understood his actions were stupid and he did not take the machine for financial gain.