Ben Farrar (born 2 December 1986) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. He is the player/head coach of New York Rugby League. He previously played for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

and

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

and the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. He primarily played but had filled in at in the past.

Playing career

Born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

, Farrar played his junior football for the

Western Suburbs Rosellas The Western Suburbs Rosellas, Western Suburbs, Wests, The Rosellas are a Rugby league club based in the Newcastle, NSW region of Australia. It was a foundation member of the Newcastle Rugby League in 1909 and has been one of the most successf ...

before being signed by the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

. He played for the Knights' S.G. Ball team in 2004, winning the 2004 S.G. Ball Cup Grand Final.

Parramatta Eels

In 2005, Farrar joined the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

, winning the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

Grand Final in 2006.

North Queensland Cowboys

In 2007, Farrar joined the

. He played for the

North Queensland Young Guns The North Queensland Young Guns were a rugby league team competing in the Queensland Cup. They acted as a feeder team for the North Queensland Cowboys. The Cowboys had previously entered reserve grade teams in the Australian Rugby League and Su ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

. In round 7 of the

2007 NRL season The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusi ...

, Farrar made his

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

début for the Cowboys against the

. He scored a try on debut.

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

In 2009, after playing 38 games for the club, Farrar made a mid-season move to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in a player swap for Michael Bani. In 2010, Farrar was thrust into the position for the Manly club after playing most of his career as a or following a season ending knee injury to teammate

Brett Stewart Brett Stewart (born 27 February 1985) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played fullback for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL). An Australian international and New South Wales Stat ...

. Despite not having played at the back since his junior days, Farrar generally impressed with his displays at for Manly.

Catalans Dragons

On 14 September 2010, Farrar signed a one-year contract with the

in the

starting in 2011, alongside childhood teammate, Scott Dureau. In 2011, Farrar signed a two-year contract to return to the

in 2012. After two injury plagued seasons though, Farrar did not play a first-grade game.

London Broncos

In February 2014 Farrar signed a two-year contract to play with the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

in the

competition. (For 2014 Super League season highlights, stats and results click on 2014 Super League season results)

New York Rugby League

After a period coaching the juniors & women's teams at

it was announced in July 2022 that Farrar signed a contract to both play and coach New York Rugby League in the NARL competition.

Representative career

Farrar had played for the New South Wales U19's team.

Personal life

Farrar is the nephew of former

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) is an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as the club is commonly ...

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

and

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On 13 December 1980, they were the ...

player

Andrew Farrar Andrew Farrar is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Western Suburbs, Wigan and the Illawarra Steelers. Farrar also played for New South Wales in the State of Origin on sev ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrar, Ben 1986 births Living people Australian rugby league players Catalans Dragons players London Broncos players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players New York Freedom Rugby League coaches New York Freedom Rugby League players North Queensland Cowboys players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Newcastle, New South Wales Rugby league wingers Western Suburbs Rosellas players 21st-century Australian sportsmen Australian expatriate rugby league players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Australian expatriate rugby league players in France Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate rugby league players in the United States Expatriate rugby league coaches