George Jennings (rugby league)

George Jennings (born 9 June 1993) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL).

George Jennings
Personal information
Born (1993-06-09) 9 June 1993
Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight94 kg (14 st 11 lb)
Playing information
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015–16 Penrith Panthers 5 2 0 0 8
2018–20 Parramatta Eels 24 11 0 0 44
2020(loan) → New Zealand Warriors 6 2 0 0 8
2021–23 Melbourne Storm 21 12 0 0 48
Total 56 27 0 0 108
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015 Tonga 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 4 August 2023

He previously played for the Penrith Panthers, Parramatta Eels and the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL.

Background

Jennings was born in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia to Tongan-born parents. He is also of Fijian and English descent. He is the younger brother of former Eels teammate Michael Jennings and older brother of Penrith Panthers player Robert Jennings,[2] and nephew of 1960s All Black Arthur Jennings.

Jennings attended Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown and represented the 2011 Australian Schoolboys.

He played his junior rugby league for the Western City Tigers prior to being signed by the Penrith Panthers.

Playing career

2011 - 2014: early career

In October 2011, Jennings played for the Australian Schoolboys.[3]

In 2012 and 2013, Jennings played for the Penrith Panthers' NYC team.[4][5] On 20 April 2013, Jennings played for the New South Wales Under-20s team against the Queensland Under-20s team.[6] On 6 October 2013, Jennings played in Penrith's 42–30 win over the New Zealand Warriors in the 2013 NYC Grand Final.[7]

In 2014, Jennings moved to Penrith's New South Wales Cup team. In February 2014, Jennings played in Penrith's inaugural NRL Auckland Nines squad.[8] He suffered a season ending elbow injury in the tournament.[9] On 30 April 2014, Jennings re-signed with the Penrith outfit on a two-year contract.[10]

2015 - 2016: Penrith Panthers

In Round 1 of the 2015 NRL season, Jennings made his NRL debut for Penrith against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[11] He scored a try on debut. In September 2016, Jennings signed a one-year contract with the Parramatta Eels starting in 2017, after not receiving any game time in the 2016 NRL season.[12]

2017 - 2020: Parramatta Eels

On 2 April 2018, Jennings made his debut for Parramatta in their 30–20 defeat by the Wests Tigers.[13] On 28 August 2018, Jennings won the Jack Gibson NRL Coaches Award after being voted the club's best back.[14] On 30 October 2018, Jennings signed a one-year contract extension to remain at Parramatta until the end of the 2019 season.[15]

Jennings began the 2019 NRL season in reserve grade as coach Brad Arthur chose both Blake Ferguson and Maika Sivo as the club's first choice wingers. In Round 10, Jennings was called into the Parramatta side to cover for the suspended Sivo as the club travelled to Townsville to face North Queensland. With the scores locked at 10–10, Jennings attempted a pass across his own goal line to Ferguson on the first tackle. Ferguson lost the ball and North Queensland crossed over for the match winning try. The following week, Jennings kept his spot on the wing as Parramatta lost to last placed Penrith 16–10. Jennings was then subsequently demoted to reserve grade by Arthur.[16][17] After being demoted, Jennings made no further appearances for Parramatta in the 2019 NRL season. Jennings instead played for the club's feeder side the Wentworthville Magpies in the Canterbury Cup NSW competition. Jennings scored a try in Wentworthville's 2019 grand final defeat against Newtown at the Western Sydney Stadium.[18]

In round 10 of the 2020 NRL season, Jennings was called into the Parramatta side as a replacement for the injured Blake Ferguson. In his first touch of the ball, Jennings knocked on which lead to a Manly try. In the final play of the game, Jennings scored a try but it was not enough as Parramatta lost the match 22–18 at Brookvale Oval.[19] Midway through the 2020 NRL season, Jennings was loaned out to the New Zealand Warriors side. He made his debut for the club in their round 12 victory over the Wests Tigers at the Sydney Cricket Ground.[20] At the end of the 2020 regular season, Parramatta finished in third place and qualified for the finals. Jennings was a late inclusion for Parramatta in their elimination final match against South Sydney. Jennings scored two tries as Parramatta lost 38–24 at Bankwest Stadium.[21]

2021 - present: Melbourne Storm

Jennings signed with Melbourne for the 2021 NRL season making his debut for the club in round 1 against South Sydney. On 20 July, it was announced that Jennings would miss 4-6 matches after suffering a knee injury in the club's victory over Newcastle.[22] On 24 August, Jennings was ruled out for an indefinite period after suffering a knee injury in the club's round 23 victory over the Gold Coast.[23]

Jennings played a total of 18 games for Melbourne in the 2021 NRL season as the club won 19 matches in a row and claimed the Minor Premiership. Jennings played in two finals matches including the preliminary final where Melbourne suffered a shock 10-6 loss against eventual premiers Penrith. In the first half of the match, Jennings made a crucial error when he dropped the ball over the try line when he was unmarked.[24] In round 1 of the 2022 NRL season, Jennings was taken from the field during the clubs match against the Wests Tigers. It was later announced that Jennings would be ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering an ACL injury.[25] In round 16 of the 2023 NRL season, Jennings made his return to the Melbourne side in their 28-6 victory over the Wests Tigers. In round 23, Jennings suffered an MCL injury in Melbourne's loss against Penrith. It was later announced that Jennings would miss 6-8 weeks.[26] Jennings did manage to return for feeder club the Brisbane Tigers and played on the wing in their 2023 Queensland Cup grand final victory. [27]

References
  1. RLP
  2. "NRL 2015 season: Penrith Panthers young gun George Jennings on growing up in Michael's shadow". Fox Sports. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  3. "ASSRL Schoolboys rugby league news, Australian Secondary School Rugby League, Australian Schoolboys". Ourfootyteam.com. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  4. "Gallant Sea Eagles go down to Panthers in NYC". NRL.com. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  5. "Panthers NYC team to take on the Roosters in Saturday's qualifying final - Panthers". Penrithpanthers.com.au. 22 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  6. "Under 20's Origin squads named". NRL.com. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  7. Michael Carayannis (6 October 2013). "Penrith Panthers defeat NZ Warriors in Holden Cup". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  8. "Squads For Auckland Nines". Rugby League Week. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  9. "Jennings brothers follow Michael's footsteps". NRL.com. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  10. "Jennings to stay for 2015 & 2016 | NRL". Zero Tackle. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  11. "Final NRL Team List - Panthers". Penrithpanthers.com.au. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  12. ParraEels.com.au (8 March 2015). "Eels sign George Jennings for 2017". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  13. "George Jennings says broken leg was never the same". 10 April 2018.
  14. "Daniel Alvaro wins Eels player of the year". 28 August 2018.
  15. "Parramatta Eels announce contract extensions for four players | Sporting News". Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  16. "NRL Round 12 teams analysis: Brad Arthur drops four players, while Rabbitohs, Panthers forced to dig deep". www.foxsports.com.au. 28 May 2019.
  17. "Parramatta coach won't blame individuals". www.canberratimes.com.au. 18 May 2019.
  18. "Newtown reign supreme in epic decider". NSWRL. 29 September 2019.
  19. "Sea Eagles Stun Eels Dogs Blow It Late". ABC News. 18 July 2020.
  20. "Cronulla Sharks edge out Brisbane Broncos with 36-26 NRL win, Warriors stun Wests Tigers 26-20". ABC News. 31 July 2020.
  21. "WTF was that?! Eels implode with TWO howlers in 60 seconds of madness". www.foxsports.com.au. 10 October 2020.
  22. "Back fracture for Moses; Savage out for season". www.nrl.com. 17 January 2022.
  23. "Casualty Ward: Sivo's ACL torn; Roosters lose trio; Doueihi out". www.nrl.com. 17 January 2022.
  24. "Penrith Panthers beat Melbourne Storm 10-6 to reach second straight NRL grand final, will face South Sydney Rabbitohs". ABC News. 25 September 2021.
  25. "Melbourne Storm eye up replacements after losing Christian Welch in brutal NRL opener". www.msn.com.
  26. "Canberra flyer's hamstring blow; Souths star's 'bad, bad' injury - Casualty Ward". www.foxsports.com.au.
  27. https://www.qrl.com.au/draw/qrl-premiership/2023/grand-final/game-1/
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