Shaun Fensom
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 10 October 1988 Camden, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 182 cm (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 101 kg (15 st 13 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Lock | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Rugby League Project, rleague As of 23 July 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Shaun Fensom (born 10 October 1988) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Canberra Raiders of the National Rugby League. A forward, he has played his entire career to date at the Raiders .
Career
Previous to first-grade football, Fensom played for the Bellingen Dorrigo Magpies and gained representative honours in his youth and junior years with New South Wales Under 18's and New South Wales Country at the same age. He was the captain of Canberra in the 2008 season of the Toyota Cup and was the lock in their successful grand final. He was also named at loose-forward in the Toyota Cup team of the year in 2008.[1][2]
Fensom made his first-grade début for the Raiders in the 2009 NRL season, in a round 5 24-14 win at the Cronulla Sharks, where Fensom came on off the bench. He played the following round, again in an interchange role, in a 16-10 loss away to the Gold Coast Titans. In 2010, he scored his first try in the NRL in round 4 against the Wests Tigers.
Fensom is the current co-holder (with Nathan Hindmarsh) of the world record for the most tackles made in a single game: in Round 11 of the 2011 NRL season he made 75 tackles against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. He went on to make a club record 1135 tackles for the season, breaking the record previously held by Alan Tongue.[3] Fensom was regularly the first choice at lock during the 2011 season, playing in 24 games, and was named as the Raiders player of the year.[3]
Fensom won consecutive Mal Meninga Medals in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.[4] This meant that Fensom was the 6th player in history to receive the award two years in a row. In 2011, Fensom received 24 votes, which was nine ahead of second-placed Dane Tilse with 15.[5] He was also the winner of the "Tradies 2011 Raider of the Year" award, which is voted on by The Canberra Times rugby league reporters. Fensom finished with 25 points at the end of the 2012 season, five ahead of Reece Robinson.
Fensom is known for his extremely high work rate, particularly in regards to tackling. In the 2012 season, he averaged 43.3 tackles per game. Due to his consistent high work rate, he is one of the top players in the NRL Dream Team competition, which gives each player a points score based on their statistics in each game. As of the start of the 2013 season, Fensom was the 6th most expensive player in NRL Dream Team.[6]
Career highlights
- First Grade Debut: Round 5, Cronulla Sharks 14 v 24 Canberra Raiders at Toyota Stadium, 11 April 2009
- World Record Holder: Round 11, 75 Tackles vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium, 20 May 2011
Honours
- 2007 Canberra Raiders Jersey Flegg Coaches Award
- 2008 National Youth Competition Premiers
- 2008 National Youth Competition Team of the Year (at lock)
- 2008 Canberra Raiders National Youth Competition Captain
- 2008 Canberra Raiders National Youth Competition Player of the Year
- 2011 Mal Meninga Medal for Canberra Raiders Player of the Year
- 2012 Mal Meninga Medal
- World Record for most tackles in a rugby league match: 75 (vs. Bulldogs, Round 11 2011)
- NRL Team of the Week: 2011 (Round 10,[7][8] Round 11,[9] Round 16,[10] Round 20[11][12])
References
- ^ "raiders.com.au profile". raiders.com.au. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- ^ "rleague.com profile". rleague.com. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- ^ a b Jon Tuxworth (15 January 2012). "Meninga sings praises of fab Fensom after Blues' snubbing". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Fensom named Raiders' best
- ^ Fensom streaks away with Meninga Medal
- ^ NRL Dream Team Stats Centre
- ^ Courier Mail: NRL team of the week, Round 10
- ^ Big Pond Sport: NRL team of the week, Round 10
- ^ Big Pond Sport: NRL team of the week, Round 11
- ^ Courier Mail: NRL team of the week, Round 16
- ^ Big Pond Sport: NRL team of the week, Round 20
- ^ Adelaide Now: NRL team of the week, Round 20