Ben Jeffries (born 4 September 1980) is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional player who is the head coach of 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 ...

NRL Women's Premiership The NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) also known as the Telstra NRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship is a rugby league competition in Australasia for female players. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by ...

team, the PNG Orchids and the Indigenous Women's All Stars. A or , he played the majority of his career for

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

and the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

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 ...

after starting his career playing for the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

and

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

in the NRL.

Playing career

Early years

Born in Forster, Jeffries grew up in Forster and attended Forster High School, where he represented the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

in 1998 and was signed by the

St George Illawarra Dragons

In 2000, after two seasons in the Knights' lower grades, Jeffries joined the

. In Round 4 of the

2001 NRL season The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested ...

, he made his NRL debut in the Dragons 34–6 loss to the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

, his only appearance for the club.

Wests Tigers

In 2001, Jeffries joined the

halfway through the season, playing nine games. In 2002, he played 18 games for the side, starting 16 at halfback.

Wakefield Trinity

In 2003, Jeffries joined

side

, playing 27 games in his first season at the club. In 2004, he played 33 games, scoring 24 tries and leading Wakefield to the finals. In 2005, he despite Wakefield's 10th-place finish, Jeffries scored 20 tries in 27 games, finishing as the club's top try scorer. Following his successful 2005 season, he signed a new three-year deal with the club. In 2007, after 143 games for the club, Jeffries joined the

Bradford Bulls

In 2007, Jeffries played 27 games for the Bradford Bulls as they qualified for the finals series. On 11 September 2009, after two seasons with Bradford, he signed a three-year deal to return to Wakefield.

Wakefield Trinity (second stint)

In 2010, Jeffries played 22 games in his return season for Wakefield. On 7 May 2011, after playing five games for the Wakefield, Jeffries re-joined Bradford on an 18-month contract.

Bradford Bulls (second stint)

Jeffries appeared in every game for the rest of the 2011 season after returning to Bradford, starting at five-eighth from Round 14 to Round 27. In 2012, he featured in five consecutive games from Round 4 to Round 8. He missed Round 9 due to injury but returned a week later to play in nine consecutive games from Round 10 to Round 18. He also played in Round 20 and then from Round 23 to Round 26. On 5 September 2012, he announced his departure from the Bradford Bulls to return to Australia to play part-time for the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs. At the time, Jeffries was the only Australian to play 10 consecutive years in the

Northern Pride

In 2014 Jeffries signed to the

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

-based Northern Pride

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 ...

side. He sustained an arm injury in his debut game and did not play again that season.

Coaching career

In 2014, Jeffries worked as an assistant coach for the

SG Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID ...

side. Later that year, he joined the Northern Pride

side, playing one game, and working as the strength & conditioning and hookers & halves coach for their Cyril Connell Cup and

Mal Meninga Cup The Mal Meninga Cup, known as the Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup due to sponsorship, is a junior rugby league football competition based in Queensland, played between teams made up of players aged under 18. The competition, administered by the Q ...

sides. In 2015, he left the club after playing three trial games, being granted a release. In 2015, Jeffries began working for the NRL as a Development Manager in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

. In 2016, he coached the Townsville women's team and the NQ Marlins under-14 girls side. On 19 October 2016, he became head coach of the Queensland Murri women's team. In 2017, he joined 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 ...

as an assistant coach their under-20 side under head coach Aaron Payne. Later that year, he was an assistant coach for the Queensland women's team. In 2018, he was the assistant coach for the

Townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

and head coach for the QAS women's under-18 squad. On 20 December 2018, Jeffries was announced as the

Elite Pathways coach, taking over from Aaron Payne. In 2020, Jeffries coached the Indigenous Women's All Stars. He was again named head coach of the side for 2022 and 2023. In 2022, he coached the PNG Orchids at the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

. On 24 November 2022, he was announced as the

inaugural

NRLW The NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) also known as the Telstra NRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship is a rugby league competition in Australasia for female players. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by ...

head coach. On 15 December 2023, he was released by the club.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2012 season''

NRL

Super League

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffries, Ben 1980 births Living people Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Bradford Bulls players Indigenous Australian rugby league players 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Kurri Kurri Bulldogs players Newcastle Knights (NRLW) coaches North Queensland Cowboys (NRLW) coaches Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from New South Wales St. George Illawarra Dragons players Wakefield Trinity players Wests Tigers players People from Forster, New South Wales Northern Pride RLFC players 21st-century Australian sportsmen