George Jennings (rugby league)

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

George Jennings
Personal information
Born (1993-09-06) 6 September 1993
Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015 Penrith Panthers 5 2 0 0 8
2018–20 Parramatta Eels 24 11 0 0 44
2020 NZ Warriors (loan) 6 2 0 0 8
2021– Melbourne Storm 0 0 0 0 0
Total 35 15 0 0 60
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015 Tonga 1 0 0 0 0
As of 13 November 2020
Source: [1]

He previously played for the Penrith Panthers and the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League.

Background

Jennings was born in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Tongan, Fijian and English descent. He is the younger brother of Eels teammate Michael Jennings and older brother of Penrith Panthers player Robert Jennings.[2]

Jennings played his junior rugby league for the Western City Tigers, before being signed by the Penrith Panthers.

Playing 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 the Panthers' 42–30 win over the New Zealand Warriors in the 2013 NYC Grand Final.[7]

In 2014, Jennings moved to the Panthers' New South Wales Cup team.

In February 2014, Jennings played in the Panthers' 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 Panthers on a 2-year contract.[10]

In Round 1 of the 2015 NRL season, Jennings made his NRL debut for the Panthers 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]

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]

References
  1. RLP
  2. "NRL 2015 season: Penrith Panthers young gun George Jennings on growing up in Michael's shadow". Foxxsports.com.au\accessdate=2015-03-11.
  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. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  7. Michael Carayannis. "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. https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/04/11/parramatta-eels-winger-george-jennings-says-broken-leg-was-never-the-same/
  14. https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/08/28/daniel-alvaro-wins-eels-player-of-the-year/
  15. https://www.sportingnews.com/au/league/news/parramatta-eels-contract-extensions-david-gower-peni-terepo-george-jennings-kaysa-pritchard/1e9l5u9vefeo8zk3hcp4frdi4
  16. "NRL Round 12 teams analysis: Brad Arthur drops four players, while Rabbitohs, Panthers forced to dig deep". www.foxsports.com.au.
  17. "Parramatta coach won't blame individuals". www.canberratimes.com.au.
  18. "Newtown reign supreme in epic decider". NSWRL.
  19. "Sea Eagles Stun Eels Dogs Blow It Late". www.abc.net.au.
  20. "Cronulla Sharks edge out Brisbane Broncos with 36-26 NRL win, Warriors stun Wests Tigers 26-20". www.abc.net.au.
  21. "WTF was that?! Eels implode with TWO howlers in 60 seconds of madness". www.foxsports.com.au.
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