Adrian Lam

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Tuesday, 25th August, 1970
Current Age
53 years and 218 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 %  
NRL 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
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


International

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
Overall1994-2000 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


Representative

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


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - 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

NRL/NSWRL - 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 -   - 48 21 8 1 70.00% List
Wigan 2002 35 16 -   4 68 25 9 1 71.43% List
Wigan 2003 29 10 1   5 47 20 8 1 68.97% List
Wigan 2004 25 6 -   1 25 18 5 2 72.00% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Wigan 2001-04 119 44 1   10 188 84 30 5 70.59% List

Your Say

  • Steve
    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.

  • Alan Bousie
    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

  • Tony
    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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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Paul Carter, Alan Katzmann, Cymru RL, Bill Bates

Sources: ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, Richard Bailey's Rugby League World, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1995, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997