The Queensland Rugby Union and Rugby Australia are delighted to announce a contract extension with Queensland Reds lock Josh Canham for 2027.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
The towering lock signed a two-year deal in June 2024 but has elected to extend for another year with all the potential rewards ahead in Australian rugby.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
The 2.02m Canham, 24, took major strides in 2025 with a frontline role for the Reds in Swyftx Super Rugby Pacific and earning his first starting role for the Wallabies against Japan in October.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cHow impressed I was with the club in my first year at the Reds and my ambition to play at a home Rugby World Cup are the big reasons to my decision,\u201d Canham said.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I left too early with all there is to play for in Australia, I\u2019d never forgive myself.\u201d\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
Canham said he had approaches from French clubs to consider but the balance in his own mind was clear.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cThe professionalism of the coaches at the Reds, the facilities, a very exciting playing group and an exciting style of footy, I like playing, make the Reds the place I want to be,\u201d Canham said.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cThe assistant coaches for the forwards are really able to work on the little things that make a difference, stuff people don\u2019t always see. I\u2019m talking about Choc (Zane Hilton) and Fish (Jonathan Fisher) working on the breakdown, getting the ball away from danger, delivery of the ball from lineouts and stuff like that.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players work hard for each other because we are close. It\u2019s not a chore because you are surrounded by mates, guys you catch up with away from rugby.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of opportunity in Australian rugby over these next few years.\u201d\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
The multi-skilled Canham played 14 games for the Reds in Super Rugby Pacific in 2025 when he was the team\u2019s No.1 lineout winner, led the team for offloads and only Fraser McReight made more tackles.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
After his three seasons with the Melbourne Rebels, he now has 48 Super Rugby caps to his name plus the huge experience of playing for the Reds against the British and Irish Lions last season.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
The two-Test Canham made his Wallabies debut off the bench against Argentina in Santa Fe in 2024 and was rewarded with a Test start at lock against Japan in Tokyo last October.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very proud to pull on the gold jersey and run out as a starter for the first time in Tokyo,\u201d Canham said.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt I left a lot out there in terms of how much more I can offer because I had to come off early (after a head knock).\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cThat chance has certainly made me hungry to prove myself and get into that position again.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in that Wallabies environment every day on tour enabled me to work on individual skills and understand the ins-and-outs of how the Wallabies go about things. I\u2019m definitely going to be pushing for more consistent opportunities.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a step in the right direction but you want to keep pushing because it\u2019s not just about making squads.\u201d\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
Reds Head Coach Les Kiss is upbeat about Canham’s progress.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic that Josh has extended. There is so much upside in what he offers as a hard, physical player with great lineout skills and being very coachable,” Kiss said.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s ambitious and really wants to play at the highest level which is reflected in his appetite to work to improve his game.”\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
Rugby Australia\u2019s Director of High Performance Peter Horne said: \u201cJosh is an emerging young player who has had some Test experience and has a bright future ahead of him.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to continuing to support him in Australian Rugby and seeing him work hard to further develop his game.\u201d\u2028\u00a0\u2028<\/p>\n
JOSH CANHAM\u2028<\/p>\n
Position: Lock\u2028<\/p>\n
Height: 202cm\u2028Weight: <\/p>\n
118kg\u2028Born: 1\/2\/2001\u2028<\/p>\n
Place of birth: Peoria, USA\u2028<\/p>\n
Senior Club: Bond University\u2028<\/p>\n
School: Brighton Grammar School, Melbourne\u2028J<\/p>\n
Junior Club: Harlequin Rugby Club, Melbourne\u2028Queensland Reds <\/p>\n
Caps: 20\u2028Queensland Reds Debut: 2024 v Wales, Brisbane\u2028<\/p>\n
Super Rugby Caps: 48 (Reds 14, Rebels 34)\u2028<\/p>\n
Super Rugby Pacific Debut: 2022 (Melbourne Rebels) v Fijian Drua\u2028<\/p>\n
Super Rugby Points: 15 (3 tries)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Queensland Rugby Union and Rugby Australia are delighted to announce a contract extension with Queensland Reds lock…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,13506,760,85,2500],"class_list":{"0":"post-415887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-reds","11":"tag-rugby","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-wallabies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}