Blake Green

Blake Green (born 18 September 1986) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a five-eighth and halfback in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

Blake Green

Personal information
Born	(1986-09-18) 18 September 1986 (age 36) Fairfield, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	97 kg (15 st 4 lb)^[1]
Position	Five-eighth, Halfback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2007 Parramatta Eels 6 0 0 0 0 2008–09 Cronulla Sharks 19 1 0 0 4 2010 Canterbury Bulldogs 18 2 0 0 8 2011–12 Hull Kingston Rovers 40 18 0 0 72 2013–14 Wigan Warriors 49 18 0 0 72 2015–16 Melbourne Storm 50 10 0 0 40 2017 Manly Sea Eagles 24 3 0 0 12 2018–20 New Zealand Warriors 55 4 0 1 17 2020–21 Newcastle Knights 9 0 0 0 0 Total 270 56 0 1 225
Source: ^[2]^[3]^[4]

Green was regarded as somewhat of a journeyman during his career after playing for nine separate clubs. He played for the Parramatta Eels, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League, Hull Kingston Rovers and the Wigan Warriors in the Super League, before returning to the NRL with the Melbourne Storm, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, New Zealand Warriors and finally Newcastle Knights. He is one of only three players in the history of the game (the others being Darrien Doherty and Tyran Smith) to have the distinction of playing first grade for seven different NRL clubs.

Green won the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match in the 2013 Super League Grand Final whilst playing for the Wigan Warriors.

Background

Green was born in Fairfield, New South Wales, Australia.

He played junior rugby league for Cabramatta Two Blues and Hills District Bulls.^[5]

Blake was educated at Westfields Sports High School from 1999–2004 and played for and captained the 2004 Australian Schoolboys.^[6]

Playing career

Green made his professional rugby league début during the 2007 NRL season with the Parramatta Eels.

He was then signed up by the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks on a two-year deal.

 

Green playing for the Sharks in 2009

He moved to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2010, enjoying his most consistent season to that point, playing 18 games in the halves.

In October 2010 it was announced that Green had inked a two-year deal with the East Riding of Yorkshire club the Hull Kingston Rovers, starting from the 2011 Super League season. Green linked up with former teammate Michael Dobson to form a new partnership at half-back for the Robins.^{[citation needed]}

He played in the 2013 Challenge Cup Final victory over Hull F.C. at Wembley Stadium.^[7][8][9]

Green won the Harry Sunderland Trophy in the 2013 Super League Grand Final against the Warrington Wolves on 5 October 2013 as he helped the Wigan Warriors come from 16–2 down to win 30–16 as he scored the try which moved the Wigan Warriors 24–16 ahead in a crucial stage of the game, and put on a fantastic display at stand off despite taking a cheap-shot on the ground from Warrington Wolves' Ben Westwood which left Green on the ground out cold for a few minutes with a black eye and fractured eye socket at Old Trafford.^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

On 10 June 2014, Green announced he would leave the Wigan Warriors at the end of the season.^[15][16]

He played in the 2014 Super League Grand Final defeat by St. Helens at Old Trafford.^[17][18][19]

On returning to the NRL he signed with Melbourne in 2015. In the 2016 NRL season, Green played nearly every match for Melbourne as the club claimed the Minor Premiership. Green played for Melbourne in the 2016 NRL Grand Final where they lost 14-12 to Cronulla-Sutherland at ANZ Stadium.^[20]

Green then signed with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles for a two-year deal, forming a halves combination with Daly Cherry-Evans.

On 20 November 2017, Green was released from the second and final year of his contract with Manly to join the New Zealand Warriors on a three-year deal.^[21][22]

On 4 August 2020, Green joined the Newcastle Knights mid-season to play out the rest of the 2020 season.^[23] Upon joining Newcastle, Green equalled both Darrien Doherty and Tyran Smith's record for most NRL club's played for with Newcastle being his seventh club.^[24] He played his first game for the club in round 13 against the Wests Tigers, with the Knights winning the game 44-4.^[25] During his third game for the Knights against the North Queensland Cowboys, Green ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, ending his season.^[26]

On 26 August 2020, Green signed a one-year contract with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs for the 2021 season.^[27] He was then released from his contract with Canterbury-Bankstown, after they had signed Kyle Flanagan, with Green returning to Newcastle on a one-year deal for 2021.^[28]

Green made his return to the field for the Newcastle club in round 4 of the 2021 season.^[29] He played in five more games before announcing his immediate retirement from rugby league.^[30]

Honours

2004 – Australia national schoolboys rugby league team
2013 – Winner Super League Grand Final – Wigan Warriors
2013 – Winner Harry Sunderland Trophy – Wigan Warriors
2013 – Winner Challenge Cup – Wigan Warriors
2014 – Runner-up Super League Grand Final – Wigan Warriors
2016 – NRL Minor Premiers – Melbourne Storm
2016 – Runner-up NRL Grand Final – Melbourne Storm

Coaching career

On 11 June 2021, Green was appointed as the head coach for the inaugural Newcastle Knights NRLW team, one of the 3 new clubs competing in 2021 NRLW Premiership.^[31] Ultimately, Green never had the opportunity to coach the Knights' NRLW team, instead accepting a role with the Knights' NRL team before the delayed 2021 NRL Women's season commenced.^[32]

References

1. . web page. Hull Kingston Rovers RLFC. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
2. "Players". Love Rugby League.
3. "Blake Green". Rugby League Project.
4. NRL Stats^{[permanent dead link]}
5. "Green in Origin Frame after Warriors Win". New South Wales Rugby League. 31 March 2018.
6. "SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". SportingPulse. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
7. "Hull FC 0–16 Wigan Warriors". BBC Sport. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
8. "Wigan Warriors overcome Hull FC and elements to win Challenge Cup". Guardian. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
9. "Wigan Warriors grind out victory over Hull". Sky Sports. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
10. . Super League. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
11. Newsum, Matt (5 October 2013). "Super League Grand Final: Wigan Warriors beat Warrington". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
12. "Super League Grand Final: Warrington v Wigan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
13. "Warrington Wolves 16 Wigan Warriors 30". Daily Telegraph. 5 October 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
14. "Wigan see off Warrington in X-rated Grand Final to complete double". The Guardian. 5 October 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
15. "RUGBY-LEAGUE.COM". Retrieved 25 August 2016.
16. "Super League: Blake Green to leave Wigan Warriors at the end of the season". Sky Sports.
17. "St Helens 14 Wigan Warriors 6: Moment of madness from Wales international Ben Flower costs Wigan dear". Daily Telegraph. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
18. "St Helens win Grand Final after Wigan's Ben Flower is sent off". The Guardian. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
19. "St Helens 14–6 Wigan Warriors". BBC Sport. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
20. "Cronulla defeat Storm to break 50-year NRL grand final hoodoo - as it happened". The Guardian.
21. Skipwith, David (20 November 2017). "Blake Green signs with Warriors". NZ Herald. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
22. "Blake Green signs three-year deal with New Zealand Warriors". news.com.au. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
23. "Blake Green joins Knights after Warriors release". NRL.com. 4 August 2020.
24. "Blake Green journeyman". www.foxsports.com.au.
25. "NRL 2020 - Round 13 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
26. "NRL 2020: Blake Green contract, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Kieran Foran". 26 August 2020.
27. "Bulldogs sign Blake Green". wwos.nine.com.au.
28. "Knights re-sign veteran playmaker Blake Green for 2021". www.newcastleherald.com.au.
29. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
30. "Blake Green confirms retirement from Rugby League". Newcastle Knights. 25 May 2021.
31. "A New Dawn: Knights to enter NRLW in 2021". Newcastle Knights. 11 June 2021.
32. Newton, Alicia (17 February 2022). "How Green's blueprint continues to influence Knights". NRL.com. National Rugby League. Retrieved 10 June 2022.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blake Green.

• New Zealand Warriors profile
• NRL profile^{[permanent dead link]}
• Herald Sun | Breaking News from Melbourne and Victoria | Herald Sun