21 Facts About Nathan Friend

Nathan Friend previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors.

Nathan Friend was then picked for the Toowoomba under-17 side, subsequently playing one season in the local A-grade competition.

The 2006 NRL season was the first season where Nathan Friend played regular first grade football.

Out of Melbourne's 29 matches in 2006, Nathan Friend played in 21 of the games including all three of the Storm's finals series matches.

Nathan Friend only lost two games out of the 21 he played in 2006.

Nathan Friend played in the 2006 NRL Grand Final for Melbourne as one of their interchange players.

Nathan Friend continued to play on the bench for the first eight games of the season.

The Titans' Round 20 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs was the only game in the 2007 season that Nathan Friend did not play in.

In 2008, Nathan Friend remained first choice hooker for the Titans.

Nathan Friend played as starting hooker in all of the club's matches in 2009 as the Gold Coast reached the finals for the first time, finishing in third place.

Nathan Friend scored more tries in 2009 than he did in the rest of his NRL career, scoring four.

Nathan Friend won the Paul Broughton Medal for the Gold Coast Titans' player of the year in 2009.

In 2010, Nathan Friend again played in all of the Titans' games in that season.

Nathan Friend was given an opportunity to play State of Origin due to an injury to first choice hooker Cameron Smith before game one.

Nathan Friend was up against other Queensland hookers such as Matt Ballin, Andrew McCullough, Jake Nathan Friend, Kevin Kingston and Aaron Payne.

Nathan Friend's injury meant that his run of 56 consecutive matches for the Titans came to an end.

On 11 April 2011, Nathan Friend signed with New Zealand Warriors for the 2012 and 2013 seasons with an option for 2014.

In round 18 2015, in the Warriors' last victory of the season, against the Melbourne Storm, Nathan Friend was a key player in one of the best tries of the season.

Nathan Friend was upended and displayed his best acrobatic moves after chasing a Chad Townsend bomb kick, delivering a back flip pass between his legs to Sam Tomkins.

On 30 July 2015, after four years with the Warriors, Nathan Friend signed a 1-year contract to return to the Gold Coast, starting in 2016.

Nathan Friend retired at the end of the 2016 NRL season and now works as a bricklayer, a job he did part time during his playing career.