Rodney Griffin (born 5 January 1987) is a Papua New Guinean 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 who plays as a and forward for the Northern Pride 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 ...

. He is a Papua New Guinean international.

Background

Born in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, Griffin moved to Australia at the age of 3 and played his junior rugby league for the Atherton Roosters, before going into 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 ...

' academy system.

Playing career

Early career

In 2005, Griffin played for the

Wynnum Manly Seagulls The Wynnum Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, Queensland, Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum, Queensland, Wynnum. They competed in the Bri ...

in the

. In 2006, he moved down to

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to play in the

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 ...

' junior grades.

2007

In October and November, Griffin played 3 games for

against Wales, and France twice.

2008

In 2008, Griffin returned to the Queensland Cup to play for the Northern Pride. In October and November, he played 3 games for Papua New Guinea at the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

against England, New Zealand and Australia.

2009

In 2009, Griffin again played for the Pride, hoping for a contract with the North Queensland Cowboys.

2010

On 19 September, Griffin played in the Pride's 2010 Queensland Cup Grand Final victory over the

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

. In October and November, he played 3 games for Papua New Guinea at the

2010 Rugby League Four Nations The 2010 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was played in Australia and New Zealand in October and November 2010. The tournament was the second time the Four Nations had been held, following on from the 2009 edition held in England and France. ...

against Australia, New Zealand and England.

2011

In 2011, Griffin joined the

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two club teams based outside of Queensland to play in the Queensland C ...

. On 25 September, he played in the Seagulls' 2011 Queensland Cup Grand Final defeat by the Wynnum Manly Seagulls. This was his third Queensland Cup grand final in a row, after losing with the Pride in 2009 and winning with the Pride in 2010.

2013

After spotting him in the Papua New Guinea camp while assistant coaching the side in 2010,

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

co-coaches

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

and Shane Walker signed Griffin to the Ipswich side, after initially missing out on him in 2010. The Walkers stripped 10 kilograms from his frame and moulded him into an 80-minute middle forward capable of performances like 309 metres in 66 minutes in Queensland Cup. Rod_Griffin

2015

In 2015, Griffin did a pre-season with the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

, but failed to gain a contract. On 27 September, he played in the Jets' 2015 Queensland Cup Grand Final victory over 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 ...

. On 4 October, he played in the Jets' 2015 NRL State Championship victory over 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 ...

, scoring a try and setting up a try for winger Marmin Barba. On 13 October, he signed a 1-year contract to return to the Wests Tigers starting in 2016.

2016

On 7 May, Griffin played for Papua New Guinea against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

in the 2016 Melanesian Cup. Despite not being able to break into the Tigers' NRL team for 2016, he re-signed with them for 2017.

2017

On 8 February, Griffin was granted a release for his Tigers' contract to join the

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 ...

, spending the entire season in the

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. At the end of the season, he represented

at 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 ...

and was named in the NSW Cup Team of the Year.

2018

After two seasons in Sydney without making his NRL debut, Griffin returned to

north Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

, joining the

in the

References

External links

Canterbury Bulldogs profileIpswich Jets profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Rod 1987 births Living people 21st-century Papua New Guinean sportsmen Ipswich Jets players Northern Pride RLFC players Papua New Guinea national rugby league team captains Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players Papua New Guinean emigrants to Australia Papua New Guinean rugby league players PNG Prime Minister's XIII players Queensland Residents rugby league team players Rugby league locks Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Rugby league players from the National Capital District (Papua New Guinea) Tweed Heads Seagulls players Wests Tigers NSW Cup players Wynnum Manly Seagulls players