Rod Frederick Jensen (born 19 January 1979), nicknamed 'Rocket' Rod Jensen, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. Jensen had previously played for the Northern Pride in the Queensland Cup, in the United Kingdom for the Huddersfield Giants 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 ...

, North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League competition. He also played with the Canberra Raiders for 5 seasons. Jensen started his career at, the now defunct Super League side, the Adelaide Rams in 1997.

Early life

Jensen was born in Atherton, Queensland, Australia. He attended school at St Augustine's College.

Playing career

Jensen played from the interchange bench in the North Queensland Cowboys' first ever grand final in 2005, which was lost to the Wests Tigers. Jensen was known for his ability to play many positions with speed and agility and was nicknamed 'Rocket' accordingly. Jensen lived up to his nickname in the closing stages of the 2007

with several length-of-the-field tries including a burst from his own line versus Warrington Wolves where he put himself forward as one of Super League's fastest men by outpacing

Kevin Penny Kevin Penny is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a er in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Warrington Wolves and the Wakefield Trinity, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the Super League, on loan for London ...

who is one of the fastest players in the

. Jensen scored 19 tries for the Northern Pride in the Queensland Cup before his retirement following the conclusion of the 2009 season. Jensen came out of retirement to rejoin the Northern Pride halfway through the 2010 season where the club went on to win the Queensland Cup premiership. He continued with the Northern Pride club for the 2011 and 2012 season before leaving to take up a position with Mareeba Gladiators.

Post-playing career

Rod Jensen is currently CEO of the Northern Pride club. Jensen is a qualified Teacher and graduated from

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

of North Queensland in 2005. Jensen is a candidate in the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth conse ...

to represent the Division of Leichhardt in

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

. He is running as a candidate of Katter's Australian Party.

References

External links

Huddersfield sign Cowboys utility
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Rod 1979 births Living people Adelaide Rams players Australian rugby league players Australian Aboriginal rugby league team players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Canberra Raiders players Indigenous Australian rugby league players North Queensland Cowboys players Huddersfield Giants players Northern Pride RLFC players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby league second-rows People from Far North Queensland James Cook University alumni Rugby league players from Queensland