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Slade Griffin

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Slade Griffin
Personal information
Born (1991-01-17) 17 January 1991 (age 33)
Glen Innes, New South Wales, Australia
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight94 kg (14 st 11 lb)
Playing information
PositionHooker, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–17 Melbourne Storm 25 0 0 0 0
2018 Newcastle Knights 16 2 0 0 8
Total 41 2 0 0 8
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 20 May 2019

Slade Griffin (born 17 January 1991) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer. His positions were hooker and lock. He is currently the head coach of the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL Women's Premiership.[2]

He previously played for the Melbourne Storm and the Newcastle Knights in the NRL. He won the 2017 NRL Grand Final with Melbourne. He played 1 game for the New Zealand kiwis before suffering a career ending knee injury the following weekend.

Early life

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Born in Glen Innes, Australia, Griffin grew up in Greymouth, New Zealand.[3] He was educated at Greymouth High School.

Griffin played his junior rugby league for the Cobden-Kohinoor Keas, before being signed by the Melbourne Storm.

Playing career

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Early career

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From 2009 to 2011, Griffin played for the Melbourne Storm's NYC team, scoring 13 tries in 46 appearances,[4][5] before graduating to the Storm's New South Wales Cup team, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2012.

In a 2012 pre-season trial match, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee,[6] ruling him out for the rest of the season, however the Storm decided to extend his contract for another year allowing him to come back from injury.[7]

2013

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In round 1 of the 2013 NRL season, Griffin made his NRL debut for the Storm against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.[8][9]

Griffin playing for the Storm-Sharks NSW Cup team in 2013.

In June, he re-signed with the Storm on a 1-year contract until the end of 2014.[10] He went on to play 11 NRL games in his debut season.[11]

2014

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In March, Griffin re-signed with the Storm on a 2-year contract until the end of 2016.[12] In April during a New South Wales Cup game, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament for a second time, this time in his left knee,[6] stopping him from playing any NRL games in the 2014 season.[13] In July, he received a two match suspension from the NRL after being found to have placed a bet on NRL matches.[14]

2015

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In April while playing in an Intrust Super Cup game for the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Griffin suffered a third anterior cruciate ligament injury, the second in his left knee, which would again rule him out for the season without playing any NRL matches.[6]

2016

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After 1056 days since his last NRL match, Griffin returned to the Storm line-up in round 15 of the 2016 season, starting at hooker.[7][15] In October, he re-signed with the Storm on a 1-year contract until the end of 2017.[16]

2017

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In 2017, Griffin was able to break into Melbourne's line-up more regularly, coming off the interchange bench in their 2017 NRL Grand Final win over the North Queensland Cowboys.[17] He finished the season having played in 14 NRL matches.[18] Two days after the grand final, he signed a 2-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2018, in a bid for more first-grade opportunity with Australian captain Cameron Smith ahead of him for the starting hooker position at the Storm.[19]

2018

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In round 1 of the 2018 season, Griffin made his debut for the Knights in their 19-18 golden point extra-time win over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, scoring a try.[20] In June, he made his international debut for New Zealand against England in Denver, Colorado.[21] Just a week later, while playing for the Knights in their round 16 clash against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, he was passing the ball from dummy half and his leg got caught in a position which ruptured multiple ligaments in his left knee, including a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee graft, ruptured lateral ligament and torn lateral meniscus.[22] This would be his third ACL knee injury to his left knee and meant he faced a 9-12 month recovery period.[22]

2019

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While working as a trainer and coach for the Knights during the 2019 season, Griffin ultimately didn't make it back from his knee injury, departing the club at the end of the season.[23]

Coaching career

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In July 2020, Griffin was announced as the new coach of the New Zealand Warriors NRL Women's (NRLW) team.[2]

Personal life

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Griffin currently studies a Bachelor of Property and Real Estate at Deakin University.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Slade Griffin - Career Stats & Summary". Rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Walter, Brad (3 July 2020). "Warriors coach Griffin preparing for all NRLW scenarios". National Rugby League. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Griffin grateful for every game". Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  4. ^ "G". 27 December 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Slade GRIFFIN". 2011. Archived from the original on 2 May 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Slade Griffin out for season » League Unlimited". League Unlimited. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "NRL grand final 2017: Slade Griffin contract Melbourne Storm". 29 September 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  8. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "NRL 2013 - Round 1 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Round 1 Late Mail". 10 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Storm re-signs young talent - Zero Tackle". 10 June 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  11. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Storm re-sign three future super stars - Zero Tackle". 18 March 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  13. ^ "Casualty ward: Fifita out for six weeks". Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  14. ^ "NRL to look at injury disclosure after gambling suspensions". Theage.com.au. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  15. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "NRL 2016 - Round 15 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Storm re-sign Griffin, add youngsters - Zero Tackle". 11 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Slade Griffin gets shot at NRL grand final glory after three knee reconstructions". Stuff. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  18. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  19. ^ "Slade Griffin joins Knights - Zero Tackle". 3 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  20. ^ "Late mail: Knights v Manly". 9 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Denver Test: New Zealand and England announce squads". 17 June 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b "Round 17 injury update: Griffin 'shattered' but positive after knee". 4 July 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  23. ^ "Departures! Goodbye to Knights leaving in 2019". Newcastle Knights. 18 September 2019.
  24. ^ "Elite Athlete Program Profiles". Deakin University. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
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