Greg Eastwood

Greg Eastwood
Personal information
Full nameGregory Eastwood
Born (1987-03-10) 10 March 1987 (age 37)
Auckland, New Zealand
Height189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight112 kg (17 st 9 lb)
Playing information
PositionLock, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2005–08 Brisbane Broncos 65 15 0 0 60
2009 Canterbury Bulldogs 23 3 0 0 12
2010 Leeds Rhinos 21 2 0 0 8
2011–18 Canterbury Bulldogs 154 12 0 0 48
Total 263 32 0 0 128
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–16 New Zealand 28 3 0 0 12
Source: [1][2]
As of 2 December 2018

Greg Eastwood (born 10 March 1987) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international forward, he played in the NRL for the Brisbane Broncos and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and in the Super League for the Leeds Rhinos.

Early years

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Eastwood is of Māori and English descent and played his junior football for the Manurewa Marlins in South Auckland before being signed by the Brisbane Broncos.

Playing career

Eastwood playing for the Broncos in 2008

Brisbane Broncos

In round 26 of the 2005 NRL season, Eastwood made his NRL début for the Broncos against the Parramatta Eels. He played in most of the 2006 Brisbane Broncos season's games but was not selected for the 2006 NRL Grand final win over the Melbourne Storm. As 2006 NRL Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos travelled to England to face 2006 Super League champions, St Helens R.F.C. in the 2007 World Club Challenge. Eastwood played from the interchange bench in the Broncos' 14–18 loss.

In the 2007 ANZAC Test, Eastwood made his international début for New Zealand from the bench. He was also selected to go on the 2007 All Golds tour.

Eastwood was a member of the 2008 World Cup-winning New Zealand Kiwis team and played in all of their matches, including the final victory over Australia.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

After three seasons in Brisbane, Eastwood signed with Leeds Rhinos of the Super League for the 2009 season, however his visa to play in the United Kingdom was denied.[3] While his visa was being appealed, several NRL clubs, including the New Zealand Warriors and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, expressed interest in signing him.[4][5] He eventually signed with the Bulldogs on loan for the 2009 season.

Eastwood made his début for the Bulldogs in round 2, against the Penrith Panthers, scoring a try in the match.[6]

Leeds Rhinos

Leeds successfully appealed the decision to deny his visa to play in the UK, and Eastwood joined the Rhinos for the 2010 Super League season.[7] However, on 29 July 2010, Eastwood announced his intentions to leave the Rhinos at the end of the 2010 season, stating that he was seeking a return to the NRL for the 2011 season because he had struggled to settle in the UK.[8] In August 2010, Eastwood announced that he would be returning to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2011.[9][10]

Eastwood played from the bench in the 2010 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[11][12]

Return to Canterbury-Bankstown

Eastwood re-commenced playing in the NRL in the 2011 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs season. He played in the 2012 NRL Grand final loss to the Melbourne Storm.

Following a season-ending tackle on Benji Marshall in week 1 of the 2015 finals series, against the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Eastwood was issued with a "concerning act" notice by the NRL, asking the Bulldogs to address his tackling style.[13]

He was named in the New Zealand Māori squad for a match against the New Zealand Residents on 15 October 2016.[14]

In December 2017, Eastwood was on the way to pre season training when he claimed he suddenly felt faint and dizzy. After visiting a hospital and seeing a specialist it was revealed that Eastwood was suffering from an irregular heartbeat. Eastwood almost retired from rugby league but returned to the field in 2018.[15][16] On 27 August 2018, Eastwood was one of the players announced by Canterbury to be leaving at seasons end after his contract would not be renewed for the 2019 season.[17]

On 23 September 2018, Eastwood was part of the Canterbury side which won the Intrust Super Premiership NSW defeating Newtown 18-12. The following week, Eastwood played in Canterbury's 42-18 victory over Redcliffe in the NRL State Championship.[18][19]

Newtown

On 15 January 2019, Eastwood signed a contract to join Intrust Super Premiership NSW side Newtown.[20] In his first season at Newtown, the club finished 7th on the table and then reached the 2019 Canterbury Cup NSW grand final after winning 3 sudden death finals matches. Eastwood missed out on playing in the club's grand final victory over the Wentworthville Magpies at the Western Sydney Stadium. Eastwood played for Newtown the following week in their NRL State Championship victory over the Burleigh Bears at ANZ Stadium.[21]

Glebe

In February 2020, Eastwood signed a contract to join Ron Massey Cup and NSWRL foundation side Glebe for the 2020 season.[22]

References

  1. ^ "loverugbyleague". Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  2. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Greg Eastwood – Career Stats & Summary – Rugby League Project".
  3. ^ "Leeds star Eastwood denied visa". BBC News. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  4. ^ Brown, Michael (1 March 2009). "League: Warriors face fight to recruit Eastwood". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  5. ^ Walter, Brad (3 March 2009). "Warriors release Lauaki, target Eastwood". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Bulldogs snare NZ prop Greg Eastwood".
  7. ^ Leeds sign Kiwi star Eastwood AAP, Accessed from NRL.com, 14 August 2009
  8. ^ "Redirecting…".
  9. ^ "bluenwhite.com.au". Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  10. ^ "bluenwhite.com.au - e-magazine".
  11. ^ Scott, Ged (28 August 2010). "Leeds 6–30 Warrington". BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  12. ^ Wilson, Andy (28 August 2010). "Chris Hicks hat-trick leads Warrington to Challenge Cup triumph over Leeds". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Why Kasiano wasn't charged". 15 September 2015.
  14. ^ "Auckland Rugby League – Auckland Rugby League".
  15. ^ "Bulldogs drop Greg Eastwood after playing his first NRL game since heart scare". 15 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Eastwood hoping with all his heart for new deal". 16 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Join us on Sunday to say farewell to our departing players". 27 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Woolford Stars as Bulldogs Claim ISP Premiership". 23 September 2018.
  19. ^ "Bulldogs down Dolphins to win Intrust Super Championship". 30 September 2018.
  20. ^ "Greg Eastwood signs with Newtown Jets". www.nswrl.com.au. 15 January 2019.
  21. ^ "Newtown Jets steal the State Championship with a last second freak try". Sporting News.
  22. ^ "Greg Eastwood's mission to help the next generation of NRL players". Sporting News.
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