Braden Uele

Braden Hamlin-Uele (né Uele; born 9 January 1995) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL. He has played for both Samoa and New Zealand at international level.

He previously played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League.

Background Uele was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and is of English and Samoan descent.

He moved to New Zealand before he turned one. Uele played his junior rugby league for the Glenora Bears and Point Chevalier Pirates before signing with the Sydney Roosters.

Playing career Early career In 2013, Uele started the season playing for the Roosters' SG Ball Cup side before he made his NYC debut later that year. In 2014, he represented the Junior Kiwis.

In 2015, Uele joined the North Queensland Cowboys, playing for their NYC side and once again representing the Junior Kiwis. After graduating from the NYC, Uele signed a two-year NRL contract with the Cowboys. This re-united Uele with Paul Green, who gave him his NYC debut while he coached the Roosters. In 2016, Uele spent the entire season playing for the Mackay Cutters, one of the Cowboys' Queensland Cup feeder clubs.

2017 In Round 21 of the 2017 NRL season, Uele made his NRL debut against the Sydney Roosters.

In August, Uele signed a two-year contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

2018 Uele made his debut appearance for Cronulla in Round 10 against Canberra which ended in a 24-16 victory. Uele spent the majority of the season playing for Cronulla's feeder club team Newtown in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW. Uele played from the bench in Newtown's grand final defeat against Canterbury.

2019 On 14 June, Uele signed a contract extension with Cronulla keeping him at the club until the end of the 2022 season.

Uele made a total of 21 appearances for Cronulla in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished in 7th spot on the table. Uele played in the Cronulla's elimination final defeat against Manly at Brookvale Oval.

2020 He played 21 games for Cronulla in the 2020 NRL season as the club finished 8th and qualified for the finals. He played in Cronulla's elimination final loss against Canberra.

2021 Hamlin-Uele warming up for Samoa in 2022He played 19 games for Cronulla in the 2021 NRL season which saw the club narrowly miss the finals by finishing 9th on the table.

2022 Hamlin-Uele played 17 games for Cronulla in the 2022 NRL season as the club finished second on the table and qualified for the finals. He played in both finals games which saw Cronulla eliminated in straight sets.

In October Hamlin-Uele was named in the Samoa squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

2023 Hamlin-Uele played a total of 19 games for Cronulla in the 2023 NRL season as Cronulla finished sixth on the table. Hamlin-Uele missed the clubs elimination final loss against the Sydney Roosters due to injury.

2024 Hamlin-Uele was limited to only twelve appearances with Cronulla in the 2024 NRL season as they finished 4th on the table and qualified for the finals. He did not feature in Cronulla's finals campaign which ended at the preliminary final stage against Penrith. On 29 September, he played for Newtown in their 2024 NSW Cup Grand Final victory over North Sydney.

2025 He played 21 matches for Cronulla in the 2025 NRL season as the club finished 5th on the table. The club reached the preliminary final for a second consecutive season but lost against Melbourne 22-14.

Statistics NRL

SeasonTeamMatchesTGGK %F/GPts 2017 North Queensland 1 0 0 — 0 0 2018 Cronulla-Sutherland 1 0 0 — 0 0 2019 21 4 0 — 0 16 2020 21 6 0 — 0 24 2021 19 1 0 — 0 4 2022 17 2 0 — 0 820231914202412142025212820263 Career totals 135 17 0 — 0 68

International SeasonTeamMatchesTGGK %F/GPts 2019 New Zealand 1 0 0 — 0 0 2022 Samoa 1 0 0 — 0 0 Career totals 2 0 0 — 0 0