Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Born
- Tuesday, 25th August, 1970
- Current Age
- 53 years and 265 days
- Place Of Birth
- Rabaul, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Known Family Links
- Son
- Lachlan Lam
Biography
Easts halfback was granted special dispensation to play for Queensland in the 1995 State of Origin series despite being captain of the Papua New Guinea national team. Lam was born on the New Guinea island of Rabual but was raised in Brisbane from the age of 7. In 1994, the year in which he made his Sydney first grade debut for Easts, he represented the Kumuls against France and NZ. Following the signing of I’warra halfback John Simon for the 1996 season Lam threatened to quit Easts in 1995 but his great form brought him to the attention of interstate selectors struggling to name a Maroons’ quad following the banning of Super League players. Lam justified his selection with a dominant display in Queensland’s 3-0 win over NSW and he later captained Papua New Guinea in the World Cup. As an ARL-signed player, he was not permitted to play for his country in the World Nines in 1996 and was again used in the State of Origin series. At club level, the showdown with John Simon did not eventuate with Simon relegated to reserve grade before shifting to P’matta. In 1996 Lam captained Papua New Guinea and was his country’s only try-scorer in the 52-6 loss to Australia. The following year, during the Super League split, he led the ‘Rest of the World’ to a 28-8 loss against Australia. A clever playmaker who did not shirk the modern game’s gruelling defensive load his continued selection for Queensland was again questioned when he was named Maroons’ captain following the premature retirement of Allan Langer in 1999. Sydney City went so far as to protest his selection in the deciding match of the series, arguing that he was injured and should not have been allowed to play. (The Roosters subsequently stood him down from club commitments until he was fit.) Lam continued to be a match-winner at State of Origin level but following the Roosters’ loss to Brisbane in the 2000 grand final he left the club to join Wigan. After captaining Papua New Guinea in the 2000 World Cup he was a member of the Wigan team that contested the Challenge Cup Final in 2004.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Playing Career Statistics
All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.
To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.
Competitions | ||||||||||||||
Competition | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
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NSWRL/ARL/NRL Premiership | 146 | 42 | - | 6 | 174 | 89 | 55 | 2 | 60.96% | List | ||||
Tour Matches | Papua New Guinea | 4 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25.00% | List | |||
Test Series | 2 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
State of Origin | 14 | 4 | - | - | 16 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 35.71% | List | ||||
World Cup | 6 | 2 | - | 1 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 50.00% | List | ||||
NSWRL/ARL/NRL Finals | 14 | 2 | - | 1 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 42.86% | List | ||||
Challenge Cup | 12 | 4 | - | 1 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 75.00% | List | ||||
Super League | 107 | 40 | 1 | 9 | 171 | 75 | 27 | 5 | 70.09% | List | ||||
Super League Finals | 12 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
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Test Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Papua New Guinea | 1994-96, 2000 | 11 | 3 | - | 1 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 36.36% | List | |||
PNG (NRL) | 1996 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
Overall | 1994-2000 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 33.33% | List | |||
International Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Rest Of The World | 1997 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
World Cup Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Papua New Guinea | 1994-2000 | 6 | 2 | - | 1 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 50.00% | List | |||
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Australia - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
QLD | 1995-97, 1999-00 | 14 | 4 | - | - | 16 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 35.71% | List | |||
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NSWRL/ARL/NRL Premiership - By Year | ||||||||||||||
Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Eastern Suburbs | NSWRL 1994 | 14 | 3 | - | - | 12 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 21.43% | List | |||
Sydney City | ARL 1995 | 20 | 5 | - | 2 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 60.00% | List | |||
Sydney City | ARL 1996 | 21 | 6 | - | 1 | 25 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 66.67% | List | |||
Sydney City | ARL 1997 | 17 | 6 | - | 1 | 25 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 64.71% | List | |||
Sydney City | NRL 1998 | 27 | 12 | - | - | 48 | 18 | 9 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
Sydney City | NRL 1999 | 22 | 5 | - | 1 | 21 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 68.18% | List | |||
Sydney | NRL 2000 | 25 | 5 | - | 1 | 21 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 64.00% | List | |||
NSWRL/ARL/NRL Premiership - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Eastern Suburbs | 1994-00 | 146 | 42 | - | 6 | 174 | 89 | 55 | 2 | 60.96% | List | |||
English Career - By Year | ||||||||||||||
Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Wigan | 2001 | 30 | 12 | - | - | 60 | 23 | 10 | 1 | 76.67% | List | |||
Wigan | 2002 | 35 | 16 | - | 4 | 73 | 27 | 10 | 1 | 77.14% | List | |||
Wigan | 2003 | 29 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 61 | 22 | 8 | 1 | 75.86% | List | |||
Wigan | 2004 | 25 | 6 | - | 1 | 29 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 80.00% | List | |||
English Career - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Wigan | 2001-04 | 119 | 44 | 1 | 10 | 223 | 84 | 30 | 5 | 70.59% | List |
Contributions:
Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Paul Carter, Alan Katzmann, Cymru RL, Bill Bates
Sources:
David Middleton's Rugby League Yearbook (1987-88 to present), Richard Bailey's Rugby League World, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook (1981-82 to 1999)
Your Say
13/02/2014
A real patriot who sacrificed fame and favor to play for his country.
My childhood idol known for his sneaky line breaks.
17/05/2018
I wonder if Adrian remembers who brought him into his international career with the PNG Kumuls in 1994. I was the Chairman of Selectors for PNG Rugby League at that time and noticed him not long after he left Wests in Brisbane and went to Easts in Sydney. Mark Murray was his coach at the time. We gave Lam the choice to play in a test match against the visiting French. He took up the offer thus surrendering his chance of playing for Australia, as were the rules at the time. After returning to Australia I ended up on the boards at Norths Devils where Murray became the coach then CEO. Sometimes people tend to forget who initiated their chances. There many expats in PNG who helped to develop the game who are not remembered! There were many great Kumul players at that time. Regards Adrian, Alan Bousie
21/09/2019
Played with and against Lamy,in state school and high school.Played us off the park along with his partner in crime Jason twist,not before I put a kick up in the corner (in the the pouring rain)in the tenth minute for our centre to score in the corner.I missed the kick and that’s all we scored before thay put 40 points on us.Adrian was just to good even then in grade 7,you could tell he going places.Top job mate.I played for Stafford heights state school not sure what school that played for.
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