Jamayne Isaako

Jamayne Isaako (born 5 June 1996) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a goal-kicking er for the Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL).

At the 2023 Dally M Awards, Isaako received the Ken Irvine Medal for being the "Top Tryscorer of the Year".

He was also the "Top Pointscorer of the Year", and named as Best Winger of the Year along with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak from the New Zealand Warriors.

In the NRL, Isaako has previously played as a for the Gold Coast Titans and on the wing for the Brisbane Broncos.

At international level, he has played for both New Zealand and Samoa.

Isaako was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and is of Samoan and Tokelauan descent.

He hails from the villages of Falelatai, Lalomanu and Lona Fagaloa.

Isaako played junior rugby league for the Aranui Eagles.

In 2014 and 2015, Isaako played at five-eighth for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks' NYC team.

In May 2015, he played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos in their 34–20 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.

In 2016, Isaako joined the Brisbane Broncos Under 20's team in round 9.

In May 2016, he played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos for a second consecutive year.

In 2017, Isaako graduated to the Broncos Queensland Cup team, Souths Logan Magpies.

During the season, Isaako's form for the Magpies prompted Broncos coach Wayne Bennett to debut him in NRL round 19 against the Newcastle Knights, starting at fullback in the 34–22 win at Hunter Stadium.

This was Isaako's only appearance for the Broncos during the 2017 NRL season.

However, he continued in the Queensland Cup and was named as fullback in the Intrust Super Cup team of the season.

In round 1 of the 2018 NRL season against the St George Illawarra Dragons, Isaako starred as a winger for the Broncos in their 34–12 loss at Jubilee Stadium.

In round 3, the Broncos defeated the Wests Tigers 9–7 at Campbelltown Stadium.

In total, Isaako kicked four penalty goals, including one in golden point extra time, and a field goal.

. In round 6 against the New Zealand Warriors, Isaako scored his first two NRL tries in the Broncos 27–18 win at Mt Smart Stadium.

In Round 11 against the Sydney Roosters, Isaako scored two tries and kicked four goals; one of the tries came from nothing after he was pressured from Roosters defenders after an attempt to kick a field goal, so he stepped around defenders in a Razzle dazzle fashion and scored a magnificent try to win the match 28-22 for the Broncos with two minutes to go at Suncorp Stadium.

On 24 June 2018, Isaako made his international debut for New Zealand against England in the historical test match set in Denver, USA, starting on the wing and kicking three goals in the 36–18 loss at Mile High Stadium.

After showing excellent form for the Broncos in the NRL, Isaako started at fullback during rounds 19–21, and the incumbent fullback Darius Boyd was shifted to centre.

Isaako showed some success as a fullback but went back to the wing for the rest of season.

On 19 July 2018, Isaako extended his contract with the Broncos to the end of the 2024 season, after rejecting a rich offer from the Sydney Roosters because he ultimately believed the Broncos offered the best opportunity to pursue his long-term positional goal of playing fullback.

Isaako finished his exciting 2018 NRL season with him playing in all of the Broncos twenty-five matches, scoring eleven tries and kicking ninety-seven goals, being the club's highest point scorer with 239 points.

On 26 September 2018, at the 2018 Dally M Awards, Isaako received the Rookie of the Year award and his magnificent match winning try against the Sydney Roosters in round 11 was named as the Try of the Year.

On 1 October 2018, Isaako was named in the New Zealand squad for their tour of Great Britain.

He played in one match, which was the last of the three matches against England, playing on the wing in the 34–0 win at Elland Road in Leeds.

Isaako returned to his wing spot the following week against the 2018 premiers, the Sydney Roosters, and kicked three goals in the much needed 15–10 win at Suncorp Stadium.

In the 2019 NRL season, uncharacteristic errors crept into his game as the Broncos struggled with a 2–6 start leading up to the round 9 Magic Round match against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

Isaako as wing and James Roberts as centre were dropped from the team for defensive and handling issues.

In the 2020 NRL season, Isaako played only ten games for Brisbane.

Due to his father's death in New Zealand and COVID-19 quarantine restrictions, he was unable to return to Australia and play for the second half of the season.

In round 8 of the 2021 NRL season, Isaako scored two tries and kicked five goals as Brisbane came from 22-0 down to defeat the Gold Coast 36–28.

At the start of 2022 NRL season, Isaako played one match and kicked two goals for Brisbane.

On 22 March, Isaako signed a one-year deal to join the Gold Coast Titans for the remainder of the season.

It was initially believed that Isaako would sign a short-term contract with Parramatta but instead chose to sign with the Gold Coast club as he wanted to remain in Queensland prior to commencing with the Dolphins for their inaugural NRL season in 2023.

In round 10, Isaako scored the winning try for Gold Coast in their golden point victory over St. George Illawarra which ended a five-game losing streak.

Isaako commenced a three-year contract with the Dolphins in 2023, and played in every match that year.