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| Full name | Jordan McLean | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1991-10-08)8 October 1991 (age 34) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 196 cm (6 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 118 kg (18 st 8 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[1] As of 30 August 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jordan McLean (born 8 October 1991) is an Australian professionalrugby league footballer who plays as aprop for theNorth Queensland Cowboys in theNational Rugby League (NRL) andAustralia at international level.
He has previously played for theMelbourne Storm in the NRL and was a member of theStorm's2017 NRL Grand Final winning team. McLean was also part ofAustralia's2017 Rugby League World Cup winning side and has played at representative level forNSW Country,World All Stars and thePrime Minister's XIII.
McLean was born inSydney,New South Wales and is ofMāori descent.
Jordan played his junior rugby league for theYoung Cherrypickers and attendedYoung High School before being signed by theCanberra Raiders.[2]
In 2007, McLean played for theCanberra RaidersHarold Matthews Cup team before joining theMelbourne Storm.[3]
He played for Melbourne'sNYC team from 2009 to 2011 and was a part of their2009 NYC premiership winning team.[4]
On 10 June 2013, McLean re-signed with the Melbourne side for a further three years, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2016 season.[5] In Round 11 of the2013 NRL season, McLean made hisNRL debut for theMelbourne Storm against theSydney Roosters at theSFS from the interchange bench in the clubs 26–18 win.[6] In Round 23 against theNewcastle Knights atHunter Stadium, McLean scored his first career try in Melbourne's 23–10 win.[7] McLean finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 14 matches and scoring a try for the Melbourne outfit.
In Round 3 of the2014 NRL season the Melbourne club played theNewcastle Knights at a home game atAAMI Park in Melbourne's 28–20 win, shortly before half-time, McLean was involved in a 3-man tackle with team matesJesse andKenny Bromwich, where Newcastle forwardAlex McKinnon subsequently suffered fractures to C4 and C5 vertebrae and was admitted to Melbourne's The Alfred Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. Early reports were that McKinnon was unlikely to walk again. McLean expressed his sympathies to McKinnon through a Facebook post that read "Best wishes to Alex McKinnon, I genuinely hope you're alright and have a safe recovery". On 2 April, McLean appeared before theNRL Judiciary. McLean's lawyer Nick Ghabar, urged the panel to remove any emotion from the case and to exercise their common sense as former players, to accept the tackle was an accident, however, his client was given a seven-match suspension. A devastated McLean could not bear to look at numerous replays of the tackle.[8][9][10] McLean returned to the Melbourne side in Round 14 against theGold Coast Titans atCbus Super Stadium, playing in the Storm's 24–20 win.[11] He finished off the 2014 season having played in 16 matches and scoring three tries for Melbourne.[12]
On 24 March 2015, McLean re-signed with Melbourne for a further three years, keeping him at the club to the end of the 2018 season.[13] McLean finished off the2015 season having played in 15 matches for the Melbourne club.[14]
On 8 May 2016, McLean played forNew South Wales Country againstNew South Wales City, playing off the interchange bench in the 44–30 loss inTamworth.[15] On 2 October 2016, in Melbourne's2016 NRL Grand Final against theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks, McLean started at prop in the 14–12 defeat.[16] McLean finished the2016 NRL season with him playing in 21 matches for the Melbourne outfit.
On 10 February 2017, McLean played for the World All Stars against theIndigenous All Stars in the2017 All Stars match, starting at prop in the 34–8 loss atHunter Stadium.[17] On 20 March 2017, McLean signed with theNorth Queensland Cowboys on a three-year deal, starting in 2018.[18][19] In May 2017, McLean was named as 18th man for Australia in the2017 ANZAC Test match against New Zealand and forNew South Wales for Game 1 of the2017 State of Origin series.[20][21] On 1 October 2017, in Melbourne's2017 NRL Grand Final against theNorth Queensland Cowboys, McLean started at prop in the 34–6 victory against his future club.[22][23] McLean finished his last year with theMelbourne Storm with him playing in 20 matches in the2016 NRL season.
On 3 October 2017, McLean was rewarded for his big season by being selected in the 24-man Kangaroos squad for the2017 Rugby League World Cup.[24] McLean played in all 6 matches of the tournament including starting at prop in the Kangaroos 6–0 gritty win againstEngland in the World Cup Final atSuncorp Stadium.[25]
In Round 1 of the2018 NRL season, McLean made his club debut for theNorth Queensland Cowboys against theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks, starting at prop in the 20–14 win at1300SMILES Stadium.[26] In Round 2 against theBrisbane Broncos in the Queensland derby match, Mclean scored his first club try for North Queensland in the 24–20 loss atSuncorp Stadium.[27] In the Cowboys' Round 4 loss to thePenrith Panthers, McLean suffered a foot injury, sidelining him for four months.[28] He returned from injury in North Queensland's Round 20 win over theNewcastle Knights.[29]
Following a strong finish to the season, McLean was recalled to the Australian squad for their end of season Test matches againstNew Zealand andTonga.[30] On 6 October, he represented thePrime Minister's XIII in their win over thePNG Prime Minister's XIII side.[31][32]
On 8 March 2019, McLean was named vice-captain of the North Queensland side.[33] He played 22 games for the club in 2019, starting all 22 at prop. In Round 4, he played his 100th NRL game in North Queensland's 12–30 loss to theCanberra Raiders.[34] In Round 13, he sustained ahamstring injury in North Queensland's loss to theManly-Warringah Sea Eagles. The injury dashed his hopes of replacing the injuredDavid Klemmer in theNew South Wales Game 2 side. He returned to the North Queensland line up in Round 15, missing just one game.[35] On 18 September, he won the Cowboys' 2019 Players' Player award at the club's presentation night.[36]
McLean played 15 games for the North Queensland club in 2020, starting all 15 atprop, and captaining the side four times. He missed five games due to a calf injury.[37]
On 19 June, McLean was selected by New South Wales for game two of the2022 State of Origin series in the extended squad.[38]McLean was then selected by coachBrad Fittler to make his State of Origin debut as starting prop for game 3. With just days remaining before the series decider, McLean was ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury.[39]McLean played 22 matches for North Queensland in the2022 NRL season as the club finished third on the table and qualified for the finals. He played in both finals matches including their preliminary final loss toParramatta.[40]
McLean played 22 matches for North Queensland in the2023 NRL season as the club finished 11th on the table.[41]
He played 22 games for North Queensland in the 2024 NRL season as they finished 5th on the table. McLean played in both finals games for North Queensland as they were eliminated in the second week by Cronulla.[42] On 15 November, the North Queensland outfit announced that McLean had signed a one-year extension with the club.[43]
On 27 August, McLean announced his retirement from the NRL. He stated that he would retire immediately after North Queensland's round 26 match against Brisbane in the Queensland derby.[44]
On 3 November 2025, the Cowboys announced that McLean would join the transition team for the teams Under 20s players who care coming through the grades.[45]
| Season | Team | Matches | T | G | GK % | F/G | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  Melbourne | 14 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 4 |
| 2014 | 16 | 3 | 0 | – | 0 | 12 | |
| 2015 | 15 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 21 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 20 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 |  North Queensland | 10 | 2 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 22 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 4 | |
| 2020 | 15 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 2022 | 22 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2023 | 22 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| 2024 | 22 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| 2025 | 19 | ||||||
| Career totals | 242 | 10 | 0 | — | 0 | 40 | |
| † | Denotes seasons in which McLean won aWorld Cup |
| Season | Team | Matches | T | G | GK % | F/G | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017† |  Australia | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 2 | ||||||
| Career totals | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
