Kurt Baptiste

Kurt Baptiste (born 15 March 1991) is a Papua New Guinea international rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Easts Tigers in the Queensland Cup.

Kurt Baptiste
Personal information
Born (1991-03-15) 15 March 1991
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight85 kg (13 st 5 lb)
Playing information
PositionHooker, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–12 Brisbane Broncos 5 1 0 0 4
2014–17 Canberra Raiders 56 5 0 0 20
2018 Leigh Centurions 1 0 0 0 0
2018 Sydney Roosters 9 0 0 0 0
2019 North Qld Cowboys 9 0 0 0 0
2020– Canberra Raiders 0 0 0 0 0
Total 80 6 0 0 24
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– Papua New Guinea 7 0 0 0 0
As of 19 July 2019
Source: [1][2]

He has also previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters and the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL, and the Leigh Centurions in the Betfred Championship.

Early life

Born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Baptiste is of Papua New Guinean descent through his Samarai-born father Bevan.[3] He played his junior rugby league for the Aspley Devils and attended Wavell State High School, where he represented the Australian Schoolboys in 2008, before being signed by the Brisbane Broncos.[4][5]

Playing career

Brisbane Broncos

Baptiste played for the Broncos' NYC team from 2009 to 2011, scoring 28 tries in 67 games and being named at hooker in the 2011 NYC Team of the Year.[6] In 2009, he represented the Queensland under-18 team in their 24–6 loss to New South Wales under-18.[7]

In Round 12 of the 2011 NRL season, Baptiste made his NRL debut for the Broncos in their 34-10 loss to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at Suncorp Stadium. He scored the first try of his NRL career in the Broncos' Round 16, 16-12 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Perth, Western Australia. Baptiste only played 1 game for the Broncos in 2012, in the Broncos' 30-6 win over the Canberra Raiders at Suncorp Stadium, spending much of the season playing for the Norths Devils, one of the Broncos' feeder teams, in the Queensland Cup.

In 2012 and 2013, he played for the Queensland Residents against the New South Wales Residents.[8][9]

Canberra Raiders

On 18 November 2013, Baptiste signed a 1-year contract with the Canberra Raiders starting in 2014.[10][11] On 3 September 2014, Baptiste re-signed with the Raiders on a 2-year contract.[12]

In 2016, Baptiste became a crucial member of the Raiders team, playing in 24 of their 27 matches. On 7 May 2016, he made his international debut for Papua New Guinea against Fiji in the 2016 Melanesian Cup.[3][13]

On 17 November 2016, Baptiste re-signed with the Raiders on a two-year deal.[14][15]

In December 2016, Baptiste ruptured his Achilles during pre-season training, which saw him miss half of the 2017 NRL season.[16] He returned in Round 14 of the 2017 season, playing just 11 games for the Raiders.[17] In late 2017, he represented Papua New Guinea at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, playing four games.[18]

Leigh Centurions

On 18 December 2017, Baptiste joined English Championship club Leigh Centurions on a one-year deal.[19] On 4 March 2018, after playing just one game for the club, he was granted a release from his contract due to personal and family reasons.[20]

Sydney Roosters

On 14 March 2018, Baptiste returned to Australia, signing a one-year deal with the Sydney Roosters.[21] In June, he came off the interchange for Papua New Guinea in their 26–14 win over Fiji.[22] He made just 9 appearances for the Roosters during the 2018 NRL season, spending the majority of the season playing for their Intrust Super Premiership feeder club, the Wyong Roos.

North Queensland Cowboys

On 11 October 2018, Baptiste joined the North Queensland Cowboys on a one-year deal.[23] After missing the entire pre-season and first two rounds due to injury, Baptiste played two games for the Northern Pride, the Cowboys' Queensland Cup feeder club.[24]

In Round 5 of the 2019 NRL season, Baptiste made his debut for the Cowboys in their loss to the Melbourne Storm.[25] Baptiste played just eight more games for the Cowboys in 2019 before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in Papua New Guinea's loss to Samoa in June, ruling him out for the season.[26]

On 13 September 2019, it was announced that he would not be re-signed by the Cowboys.[27] In 2020, he joined the Easts Tigers in the Queensland Cup.[28]

Canberra Raiders (second stint)

On 4 August 2020, Baptiste re-signed with the Canberra Raiders until the end of the season, following the cancellation of the 2020 Queensland Cup season.[29]

Achievements and accolades

Individual
  • NYC Team of the Year: 2011

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2019 season[30]

NRL
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2011 Brisbane 410—04
2012 Brisbane 100—00
2014 Canberra 500—00
2015 Canberra 1620—08
2016 Canberra 2430—012
2017 Canberra 1100—00
2018 Sydney Roosters 900—00
2019 North Queensland 900—00
Career totals 79 6 0 — 0 24

Championship
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2018 Leigh 100—00
Career totals 1 0 0 — 0 0

International
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2016 Papua New Guinea 100—00
2017 Papua New Guinea 400—00
2018 Papua New Guinea 100—00
2019 Papua New Guinea 100—00
Career totals 7 0 0 — 0 0

References
  1. loverugbyleague
  2. "Kurt Baptiste - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
  3. Mou, Freddy (6 May 2015). "How 'Big Mal' gave Canberra Raiders PNG star Kato Ottio belief". Loop PNG. Retrieved 7 May 2016. Fellow Raider Kurt Baptiste will make his Kumuls debut on Saturday. His Papua New Guinean heritage comes from his father, Bevan, who was born on the island of Samarai and moved to Brisbane aged 14.
  4. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-canberra-raiders-halfback-kurt-baptiste-to-draw-on-australian-schoolboys-days-20150715-gicthc.html
  5. http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=0-2130-0-0-0&sID=26416&articleID=5958315&news_task=DETAIL
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20120620083243/http://www.rleague.com/db/player/b/baptiste_kurt/index.php. Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. https://nycdatabase.org/representative/under-18s-origin/2009-2/
  8. Queensland Residents team named nrl.com, 25 June 2012
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20130927120237/http://leagueunlimited.com/news/show/qld-residents-team-named. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20131124142313/http://www.raiders.com.au/news-display/Raiders-sign-Kyle-ODonnell-and-Kurt-Baptiste/87481. Archived from the original on 24 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. Rugby League (17 November 2013). "Broncos refugee Kurt Baptiste happy to call Canberra Raiders home". Brisbanetimes.com.au. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  12. NRL. "Kurt Baptiste Re-Signs with the". Raiders. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  13. "PNG stuns Fiji in a thriller". nrl.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  14. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/canberra-raiders-resign-hooker-kurt-baptiste-for-two-seasons-on-eve-of-preseason-training-20161117-gsrc3z.html
  15. https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2016/10/18/season-review-kurt-baptiste/
  16. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/canberra-raiders-hooker-kurt-baptiste-has-surgery-on-ruptured-achilles-20161208-gt6x9w.html
  17. https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2017/09/20/kurt-baptiste-season-review/
  18. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/kurt-baptiste-and-kato-ottio-picked-in-papua-new-guinea-squad-for-world-cup-20171004-gytvi6.html
  19. https://www.nrl.com/news/2017/12/18/kurt-baptiste-leaves-raiders-for-leigh-centurions/
  20. https://leighrl.co.uk/wp/blog/2018/03/04/centurions-release-kurt-baptiste-from-playing-contract/
  21. https://www.roosters.com.au/news/2018/03/14/kurt-baptiste-signs-with-roosters-for-2018/
  22. https://www.playersvoice.com.au/kurt-baptiste-last-time-saw-my-friend-kato/
  23. https://www.cowboys.com.au/news/2018/10/11/four-more-signings-for-cowboys/
  24. https://www.cairnspost.com.au/sport/local-sport/gelamosby-suspended-baptist-return-forces-northern-pride-reshuffle/news-story/fe85f5d6897e4eb000e172c378998228
  25. https://www.cowboys.com.au/news/2019/04/12/final-team-list-round-5-v-storm/
  26. https://www.cowboys.com.au/news/2019/06/24/injury-update-kurt-baptiste/
  27. https://www.cowboys.com.au/news/2019/09/13/cowboys-to-farewell-eight-players/
  28. https://www.qrl.com.au/news/2020/03/10/purcell-poised-to-pounce-with-easts-tigers/
  29. "Kurt Baptiste to return to Raiders". Canberra Raiders. 4 August 2020.
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