Fenech made his first grade debut in round 15 of the
1981 NSWRFL season against
Western Suburbs at
Redfern Oval scoring a try in a 23-17 victory. In 1985, Fenech became captain of the South Sydney club. On 5 July 1988, Fenech (playing at hooker) was given the honour of captaining a
Prime Minister's XIII side (a team that included past, current or future internationals
Mal Meninga,
Greg Alexander,
Mark Geyer,
Gavin Miller,
David Gillespie and
Glenn Lazarus) against the
touring Great Britain Lions. The match, played in wet and muddy conditions at
Seiffert Oval in
Queanbeyan (near
Canberra), saw the
Don Furner-coached side defeat the tourists 24–16. In 1989, Fenech was awarded with Dally M captain of the year as South Sydney claimed the
Minor Premiership. Fenech also represented New South Wales twice that year during the 1989 State of Origin series. The following year, with Souths in financial crisis, Fenech made the difficult decision to join North Sydney. South Sydney would finish the 1990 season with the
Wooden Spoon. In Fenech's first year at North Sydney, he played 24 matches as the club reached the preliminary final but fell short of their first grand final in nearly 50 years losing to
Penrith. In 1994, Fenech played 25 matches as North Sydney once again reached the preliminary final where they lost against
Canberra. In 1995, Fenech joined the newly admitted South Queensland side and played in their inaugural game against Canberra. After his retirement from the ARL, Fenech represented Malta in a
rugby league sevens tournament. ==Post-rugby league career==