Shane Elford (born 28 December 1977), 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 who played as a er and in the 1990s and 2000s. He played 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 ...

for

Sydney 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 ...

clubs, Penrith 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 ...

(with whom he won the 2005 Premiership), mostly at . Elford also played 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 ...

for English club the

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

Playing career

Elford was born in

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

and would go on to play for Penrith's NRL team. His junior club was St Marys and he made his first grade debut in round 21, for Penrith against Canberra at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

on 2 August 1998. He missed Penrith's 2003 NRL grand final-winning team. Joining Wests Tigers from 2004, Elford was a member of the

2005 NRL Grand Final The 2005 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the National Rugby League's 2005 NRL season, 2005 Telstra Premiership season. It was played on the night of Sunday, 2 October at Sydney's Telstra Stadium between the W ...

-winning team, playing at centre in their 30–16 win over 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 ...

. Despite an announcement that Elford would be joining the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

from 2006, he remained with the club for another year. Following injuries to

Benji Marshall Benjamin Quentin Marshall (born 25 February 1985) is a New Zealand professional rugby league coach and former player who is the head coach of the Wests Tigers in the NRL. He played at or for the Wests Tigers in two separate spells, St. G ...

and Paul Whatuira during the 2006 season, Elford was trialled at five-eighth during rounds 21 to 26. His first assignment was handling

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 ...

captain

Darren Lockyer Darren James Lockyer (born 24 March 1977) is an Australian television commentator and former professional rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire profe ...

. The Tigers won that match 20–6 and were the third-last club to beat the eventual premiers before the finals. This was seen as a massive upset as the Tigers were without Marshall, Whatuira and captain

Brett Hodgson Brett Hodgson (born 12 February 1978) is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional player during the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin representative goal-kicking , he played his club football in the NR ...

for the remainder of the 2006 season, and the Broncos were at full strength. At the end of 2006, Elford signed a three-year contract with English club Huddersfield, saying he was influenced by the signing of former team-mate John Skandalis and the recommendation of Brad Drew. Elford signed a one-year deal with his former club Penrith after being released by Huddersfield in 2008. Elford said, "When I left the Tigers I never thought I'd come back to the NRL but once the offer from the Panthers came up, it was too good an opportunity to pass up." In 2010, Elford scored four tries from his five appearances. In his last

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 ...

game, Elford captained the Penrith team from the wing in the absence of State of Origin players

Petero Civoniceva Petero Civoniceva ( (Thee-vo-nee-thee-vah); born 21 April 1976), is a Fijian-Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international represent ...

, Trent Waterhouse and Luke Lewis. A serious knee injury saw him play no further games.

Post playing

After his retirement, Elford was employed by Penrith as a full-time Welfare Education Officer, helping young players adjust when they relocated after joining the club. During the 2025 round 10 match where the Panthers went into Golden Point against the Cowboys, Elford was spotted wetting the ball with a drink bottle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elford, Shane 1977 births Living people Australian rugby league players Penrith Panthers players Huddersfield Giants players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Penrith, New South Wales Wests Tigers players Windsor Wolves players