Shaun Fensom makes his Broncos debut 11 years after he downed Brisbane in a grand final

Eleven years after Shaun Fensom lead the Raiders to a grand final win over the Broncos the hardest working man will pull on Brisbane colours for the first time.

2008 Toyota Cup grand final Canberra Raiders V Brisbane Broncos at ANZ Stadium Homebush. Pic - Sam Mooy

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Shaun Fensom will team up with two Broncos he beat in an under-20s grand final 11 years ago when he makes his debut for a third NRL club at Suncorp Stadium.

Fensom was been named to come off the bench for his first Broncos NRL team in the derby clash against the Cowboys, his club of the past two years.

Andrew McCullough and Alex Glenn are among the opponents-turned-teammates of the hardworking former Raiders and Cowboys forward.

Fensom, 30, captained a Canberra team including Jarrod Croker and Josh Dugan which won the 2008 Holden Cup grand final for under-20 teams, 28-24 over Brisbane.

“That’s a little while ago but the under-20s were a lot of fun – you enjoyed the ride for what it was,’’ McCullough said.

Fensom captained Canberra to victory that day. Picture by Sam Mooy.

“To get to the grand final, we had a good year and a lot of those players have gone on to have good careers.

“Fenno is no different. He’s certainly a workaholic and every club he’s been at you know the boys like playing alongside him.’’

Glenn captained the 2008 Broncos team including McCullough, player of the competition Ben Hunt, Josh McGuire, Jharal Yow Yeh and Josh Hoffman.

Fensom, who played the first of his 174 NRL matches in 2009, created a reputation at the Raiders for high tackle counts and off-field professionalism.

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Unwanted by the Cowboys, Fensom agreed in December to join the Broncos after several weeks in which he trained by himself in Townsville.

The NRL veteran was wanted by incoming coach Anthony Seibold and reflects he was always confident a new deal would come for 2019 somewhere, motivating him to train.

“He (Seibold) wanted me to train and play football as I do,’’ Fensom said.

“I’ve had a strong back end to the pre-season. Whatever the coach wants, I will play whatever needs to be done. I want to play for this great football club.’’

Fensom will make his Broncos debut against one of his former clubs. Picture by Liam Kidston.

Fensom broke his leg in the early minutes of North Queensland’s 2017 grand final loss and said he had the mindset that he didn’t worry about how the leg had healed as some players were prone to do.

Work-hungry Fensom gets to play for Brisbane 14 years after he was a Broncos development squad member invited from his home town Urunga, near Coffs Harbour, for a few days.

2008 TOYOTA CUP GRAND FINAL

Canberra 28 (M. Picker 2, D. Low, J.Dugan, J.Kennedy tries; Dugan 4 goals) def. Brisbane (J.Yow Yeh 2, B.Hunt, M.Spence, B.Gibb tries; Hunt 2 goals) after seven minutes and 25 seconds of extra time.

Canberra: Josh Dugan, Drury Low, Jarrod Croker, Daniel Vidot, Michael Brophy, Michael Picker, Matt Smith, Andrew Edwards, Travis Waddell, Nick Skinner, Jarrad Kennedy, Zac Merritt, Shaun Fensom (c)

Interchange: Brock Dunn, Justin Carney, Todd Rheinberge, Levi Freeman. Coach: Tony Adam

Brisbane: Josh Hoffman, Mitch Rivett, Will Tupou, Brendon Gibb, Jharal Yow Yeh, Jared Kahu, Ben Hunt, Josh McGuire, Andrew McCullough, Mitchell Dodds, Matt Hancock, Troyden Watene, Alex Glenn (c)

Interchange: Michael Spence, Dunamis Lui, Guy Ford, Tom Butterfield, Coach: Anthony Griffin