Grant Millington

Grant William Millington (born 1 November 1986) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, who last played as a prop, second-row or loose forward for the Western Suburbs Red Devils in the Country Rugby League.

Grant Millington
Personal information
Full nameGrant William Millington
Born (1986-11-01) 1 November 1986
Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight112 kg (17 st 9 lb)[1]
PositionProp, Second-row, Loose forward
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–10 Cronulla Sharks 49 7 0 0 28
2011 Canterbury Bulldogs 6 1 0 0 4
2012–21 Castleford Tigers 244 33 0 0 132
2022–23 Western Suburbs Red Devils 0 0 0 0 0
Total 299 41 0 0 164
Source: [2][3]

He previously played for Castleford Tigers (Heritage № 925) in the Super League and in the NRL for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks between 2008 and 2010, and for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2011.[4]

Millington holds the Castleford club record for most appearances made by an overseas player, accumulating 244 across his 10 seasons with the Tigers.[5] He is widely recognised as one of the club's greatest imports, and is considered a fans' favourite due to his consistency and commitment as well as his community contributions off the pitch.[5][6][7] He was utilised as a skilful, ball-handling and intelligent prop/second-row forward and was even called upon to cover in the halves on occasion.[5][6]

Early life

Millington was born in Auburn, New South Wales, Australia.

He played his junior rugby league for the Cabramatta Two Blues and Wyong Roos.

Playing career

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Millington made his first grade debut for Cronulla in round 10 of the 2008 NRL season against Brisbane. Cronulla-Sutherland went on to finish third in 2008 but Millington made no appearances for the club during the finals series.

Millington being tackled by James Maloney in 2008

In the 2009 NRL season, Millington made 17 appearances for Cronulla-Sutherland as they finished 2nd last on the table.[8]

In the 2010 NRL season, Millington played in nearly every game for Cronulla-Sutherland that year as the club finished near the bottom of the ladder.[9]

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

In 2011, Millington joined Canterbury-Bankstown but only managed to make seven appearances before being released by the club. After Canterbury-Bankstown failed to make the NRL finals series in 2011 they agreed to release him from the remainder of his playing contract to allow him to take up a two year deal with the Castleford Tigers in the European Super League.[10]

Castleford Tigers

Ahead of the 2012 season, Millington joined English side Castleford on a two-year deal.[4] He had an instant impact, making 22 appearances and scoring 4 tries in his first season.[11]

In July 2013, Millington signed a one-year contract extension with the Tigers, with head coach Daryl Powell labelling him "a stand-out performer".[12]

This was followed by a further contract extension in February 2014.[13] Millington was voted as the Fan's Player of the Year for the 2014 season.[14]

Millington was first given the number 10 shirt for 2015.[15] He was named Directors' Player of the Year and 2nd Place Player of the Year for the 2015 season, of which he played every game.[16]

In 2016, due to the Tigers' extensive injury list, Millington displayed his positional versatility by starting 3 games in the halves for Castleford.

Millington played a crucial role in the 2017 Castleford campaign, contributing to the Tigers' first League Leaders' Shield and Grand Final appearance. He played in the 2017 Super League Grand Final defeat to the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[17][18][19] He was consequently named in the 2017 Super League Dream Team,[20] and won the club's 2nd Place Player of the Year award.[21]

Millington was named 3rd Place Player of the Year for the 2018 season.[22]

At the Castleford Tigers 2019 end-of-season awards night, Millington picked up the Community Player of the Year title in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the local area and his hard work off the field in conjunction with the Castleford Tigers Community Foundation.[23]

Following his excellent start to the 2020 Super League season, Castleford head coach Powell stated that "this year he's at a different level" and expressed his intention to open further contract talks with Millington.[24] He signed a contract in October 2020 to take him through to the conclusion of the 2021 Super League season.[25][26]

On 17 July 2021, he played for Castleford in their 2021 Challenge Cup Final loss against St. Helens.[27] In August 2021, Millington announced that he would be retiring at the end of the regular season.[5] He scored a try in his final appearance for Castleford, in a 24-38 defeat to Warrington at Wheldon Road.[28]

References
  1. "Castleford Tigers 1st Team Grant Millington". Official Castleford Tigers web site. Castleford Tigers Rugby League Football Club Ltd. 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  2. loverugbyleague
  3. "Grant Millington - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". Rugbyleagueproject.org.
  4. "Castleford Tigers sign Grant Millington & Lee Mitchell". BBC Sport. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  5. "Grant Millington to retire". Rugby-League.com. 27 August 2021.
  6. Craven, Dave (27 August 2021). "Castleford Tigers veteran Grant Millington to call time on his rugby career". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  7. Gordon, James (18 October 2021). "Grant Millington makes touching farewell gesture to Castleford". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  8. "Cronulla 2009 season". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  9. "Cronulla 2010 season". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  10. "Bulldogs Release Castleford-bound Grant Millington". League Unlimited. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  11. "Grant Millington". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  12. "Grant Millington signs new Castleford Tigers contract". 5 July 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  13. "Grant Millington extends Castleford Tigers deal". 20 February 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  14. "2014 Player of the Year Awards Winners".
  15. Bower, Aaron (7 January 2015). "Castleford Tigers unveil 2015 squad numbers". Total Rugby League. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  16. "Player of the Year 2015". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  17. "Castleford 6-24 Leeds: Grand Final 2017 – as it happened". Guardian. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  18. "Grand Final 2017: Castleford 6-24 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  19. "Danny McGuire guides Leeds to Grand Final success over Castleford". Guardian. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  20. "Super League Dream Team: Six Castleford Tigers players in team of 2017 season". 25 September 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  21. "2017 Winners". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  22. "2018 Awards Winners". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  23. "Watts at the treble on awards night". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  24. "Grant Millington stakes claim to make it a decade at Castleford Tigers". www.pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  25. "'I feel like I'm flying' - Castleford Tigers stalwart Grant Millington not ready to call it quits". Yorkshire Evening Post. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  26. "Grant Millington determined to give Daryl Powell one last roar ahead of Castleford Tigers exit". Yorkshire Live. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  27. "Challenge Cup: St Helens beat Castleford 26-12 for first Wembley victory since 2008". www.bbc.co.uk.
  28. "Super League: Castleford Tigers 24-40 Warrington Wolves - Tigers play-off hopes over after loss". BBC Sport. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
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