Hame Sele

Hame Sele

NRL123
Personal information
Born	(1996-11-12) 12 November 1996 (age 27) Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	102 kg (16 st 1 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2017–18 St. George Illawarra 18 0 0 0 0 2019 Penrith Panthers 5 0 0 0 0 2020–23 South Sydney 49 2 0 0 8 2024– St. George Illawarra 11 0 0 0 0 Total 83 2 0 0 8 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2017 NSW City 1 0 0 0 0 2023 Tonga 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1] As of 10 August 2024

Hame Sele (born 12 November 1996) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop forward for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL).

He previously played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL, and played at representative level for NSW City in 2017.

Background

Sele was born in Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Tongan descent.

He played his junior rugby league for the Kingsgrove Colts, before being signed by the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

Playing career

Early career

From 2014 to 2016, Sele played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons' NYC team. ^[2] Late in 2014, he played for the Australian Schoolboys. ^[3] In July 2015, he played for the New South Wales under-20s team against the Queensland under-20s team. ^[4] In May 2016, he re-signed with the Dragons on a 2-year contract until the end of 2018. ^[5]

2017

In 2017, Sele graduated to the Dragons' Intrust Super Premiership NSW team, Illawarra Cutters. ^[6] In round 6 of the 2017 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Dragons against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. ^{[7] [8]} In May, he was selected in the New South Wales City team, named at lock, he would play in the final ever City vs Country Origin clash on 7 May. ^[9]

2018

Sele only managed to play 3 NRL games for the season, all of them coming from the interchange bench. At the end of the 2018 season, he was released from the Dragons. ^[10]

2019

Sele signed with the Penrith Panthers for the start of the 2019 NRL season. He made his debut for Penrith in Round 1 against Parramatta which ended in a 20-12 defeat at Panthers Stadium. ^[11]

On 16 September, it was announced that Sele was one of ten players that were to be released by the Penrith club at the end of the season. ^[12]

2020

Early in 2020 Sele joined South Sydney Rabbitohs on a 'train and trial' deal. ^[13]

He made 7 appearances for South Sydney in the 2020 NRL season as the club reached their third straight preliminary final before losing to Penrith. ^[14]

2021

Sele scored his first try for South Sydney in round 15 of the 2021 NRL season against Brisbane. Souths would go on to win the game 46-0. ^[15]

2022

Sele played a total of 14 games for South Sydney in the 2022 NRL season including all three of the clubs finals matches as they reached the preliminary final for a fifth straight season. Souths would lose in the preliminary final to eventual premiers Penrith 32-12. ^[16]

2023

On 27 July, Sele signed a three-year deal to re-join St. George Illawarra starting in 2024. Sele played a total of 18 games for South Sydney in the 2023 NRL season as the club missed the finals for the first time since 2017. ^[17]

2024

During round 23 of the 2024 NRL season, Sele was taken to hospital after suffering from an irregular heartbeat during St. George's match against Canterbury. ^[18] Sele from hospital confirmed he was diagnosed with Pericarditis, Sele would be ruled out for the rest of the season.. ^[19] Sele played 11 games for St. George Illawarra in the 2024 NRL season as the club finished 11th on the table. ^[20]

References

1. "Hame Sele - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
2. "S". NYC Database. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
3. "Australian Schoolboys defeated in second Test". NRL.com. National Rugby League. 13 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
4. Pay, Dean (4 July 2015). "PAY'S SAY: NSW Under-20s side". NSW Rugby League. National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
5. "Sele re-signs with Dragons". Zero Tackle. 26 May 2016. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
6. "NSWRL Intrust Super Premiership - 2017 Round 2". League Unlimited. 7 March 2017. Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
7. "Updated team lists: Sea Eagles v Dragons". NRL.com. National Rugby League. 18 December 2016. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
8. "NRL Late Mail: Round 6 v Sea Eagles". St George Illawarra Dragons. National Rugby League. 8 April 2017. Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
9. "2017 City Origin side named". NRL.com. National Rugby League. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
10. "Dragons confirm departure of five players - Zero Tackle". 3 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
11. "Round 1 2019". NRL.
12. "Tribute to Departing Players". Penrith Panthers.
13. Nicolussi, Christian (14 February 2020). "The $4000 four-week deal that could revive an NRL career". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
14. "Penrith Panthers beat South Sydney Rabbitohs 20-16 to set up NRL grand final against Melbourne Storm". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
15. "South Sydney Rabbitohs thrash Brisbane Broncos 46-0, Payne Haas on report". www.abc.net.au.
16. "Penrith Panthers defeat South Sydney Rabbitohs 32-12 to qualify for third straight NRL grand final". www.abc.net.au.
17. "Hame Sele returns to Dragons". www.dragons.com.au.
18. "Update on Hame Sele". St George Illawarra Dragons. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
19. "NRL player shares serious heart diagnosis from hospital bed". 7NEWS. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
20. "The Mole's end-of-season review: 'Bullies' exposed as big-money Dragons forward called out". www.nine.com.au.

External links

• South Sydney Rabbitohs profile
• Penrith Panthers profile
• St. George Illawarra Dragons profile