Elliott Whitehead (born 4 September 1989) is an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a forward for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at international level. He previously played for the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

and the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons ( French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

Background

Whitehead was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

West Yorkshire, England West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exist ...

Club career

Bradford

Whitehead played junior

for

West Bowling West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

before being signed by his hometown professional club

in 2005. Whitehead made his

début in June 2009 against

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

, and went on to make seven appearances in the final ten games of the season. He scored his first try for Bradford in July 2009 against

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, and was rewarded with an improved contract with the club. Elliott Whitehead

In the 2010 season, Whitehead featured in 26 consecutive games from Round 2 ( St. Helens) to Round 27 (

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

). He also played in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

games against

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

and

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. Whitehead scored against

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

(2 tries),

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

(1 try),

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

(1 try),

Harlequins RL The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

(1 try),

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

(1 try),

(1 try) and

(1 try). In the 2011 season, Whitehead featured in 24 consecutive games from Round 1 (

) to Round 24 (

). He has also featured in the

games against Halifax and

. He scored tries against

(3 tries),

(2 tries),

(1 try),

(1 try) and Halifax (1 try). In August 2011, Whitehead received a five-game suspension after being charged with biting

forward Jordan Cox. In the 2012 season, Whitehead missed Round 1 due to suspension. Whitehead featured in 26 consecutive games from Round 2 (

) to Round 27 (

). He also featured in the

against

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

and

. Whitehead scored tries against

(4 tries), St. Helens (1 try),

(1 try),

(3 tries),

(2 tries),

(1 try),

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

(1 try),

(1 try) and

(1 try). In March 2012, Whitehead signed a new five-year contract with the club. In the 2013 season, Whitehead featured in 17 consecutive games from Round 1 (

) to Round 17 (

). Whitehead featured in the

against

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

and

. Elliott scored against

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

(1 try),

(2 tries) and

(3 tries). In June 2013, Whitehead handed in a transfer request, and was placed on indefinite leave by head coach

Francis Cummins Francis Cummins (born 12 October 1976) is the former Head Coach of the Widnes Vikings in the Super League and an English professional rugby league coach and former player. He was the head coach of Super League team the Bradford Bulls from Septe ...

. After turning down an offer from

, he was signed by

for an undisclosed fee.

Catalans Dragons

Whitehead signed a -year deal with Catalans, and he made his début for the club in July 2013 against

. He played eight games for the club during the season, and featured in the playoffs against

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

. He scored his first try for the club against Salford. Elliott Whitehead 2

In the 2014 season, Whitehead featured in Round 1 (

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

) to Round 6 (

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

). Elliot featured in Round 8 (

) to Round 10 (

) and then in Round 13 (

) to Round 25 (

). Elliott next played in Round 27 (

). He played in the Elimination Playoff (

). Whitehead also featured in Round 5 (

) of the

. He scored against

(1 try),

(5 tries),

(1 try),

(3 tries),

(2 tries),

(1 try) and

(1 try). In the 2015 season, Whitehead featured in Round 1 ( St. Helens) to Super Eight 7 (

). Elliott played in the

in Round 6 (

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...

) and the Quarter Final (

). He scored against

(1 try),

(3 tries),

(1 try),

(2 tries),

(1 try),

(2 tries) and

(1 try).

Canberra Raiders

On 8 April 2015, Whitehead signed a two-year contract with

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

side

starting in 2016. He made his début against

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

, and went on to play 27 games and score 6 tries in his first season in the NRL. In August 2016, he was given a contract extension until the end of 2018. Whitehead credits his ability to adapt to the Australian style of play on personal fitness guru Chris Anderson. At the end of the 2017 season, Whitehead extended his contract with Canberra until the end of the 2020 season. Whitehead made 27 appearances for Canberra in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club qualified for their first grand final in 25 years. Elliott Whitehead Canberra

Whitehead played in the

2019 NRL Grand Final The 2019 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2019 National Rugby League season and was played at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between defending premiers the Sydney Roosters and the Canberra Ra ...

at second-row as they were defeated 14-8 by the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

. Whitehead played 22 games for Canberra in the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

as the club fell one game short of another grand final appearance. Whitehead played 21 games for Canberra in the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

which saw the club finish 10th on the table. Whitehead played a total of 22 games for Canberra in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Whitehead played in both finals matches as Canberra were eliminated in the second week by

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

International career

In 2014, Whitehead was selected in

's 2014 Four Nations squad. He was selected in the 3rd game against New Zealand. In 2015, Whitehead was selected in the England team again for the end-of-year test series against New Zealand. Before the series, Whitehead was part of the England team that took on

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in a test match held in Leigh. In 2016, Whitehead was selected in the 24-man England squad for the

2016 Four Nations The 2016 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (known as the 2016 Ladbrokes Four Nations, for sponsorship purposes) was the fifth staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and was played in England in October and November. The series was c ...

. Before the tournament began, he featured in a

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

against France. Elliott Whitehead England

In October 2017 he was selected in the England squad for the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

. In 2018 he was selected for

against

at the

Leigh Sports Village Leigh Sports Village is an £83 million multi-use sports,
retail and hou ...

. He was selected in

England 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was an international rugby league tournament played in the rugby league nines format, to be held in Australia on 18 and 19 October 2019. Twelve national teams competed, with four of those also fielding women's team ...

squad for the

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member ...

. He was selected in squad for the

2019 Great Britain Lions tour Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

of the Southern Hemisphere. He made his

test debut in the defeat by Tonga. In October 2022 Whitehead was named in the England squad for 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 £2 ...

. On 15 October 2022 he scored two tries for England in their opening match of the

against Samoa as England won the game 60-6.

Statistics

References

External links

Canberra Raiders profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Bradford Bulls profileStatistics at rlwc2017.comEngland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Elliott 1989 births Living people Bradford Bulls players Canberra Raiders captains Canberra Raiders players Catalans Dragons players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Rugby league players from Bradford Rugby league second-rows