George Jennings (rugby league)

Jennings was born in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Tongan, Fijian and English descent. He is the younger brother of Eels teammate Michael Jennings and older brother of Penrith Panthers player Robert Jennings.[2]

Jennings played his junior rugby league for the Western City Tigers, before being signed by the Penrith Panthers.

In October 2011, Jennings played for the Australian Schoolboys.[3]

In 2012 and 2013, Jennings played for the Penrith Panthers' NYC team.[4][5]

On 20 April 2013, Jennings played for the New South Wales Under-20s team against the Queensland Under-20s team.[6]

On 6 October 2013, Jennings played in the Panthers' 42–30 win over the New Zealand Warriors in the 2013 NYC Grand Final.[7]

In 2014, Jennings moved to the Panthers' New South Wales Cup team.

In February 2014, Jennings played in the Panthers' inaugural NRL Auckland Nines squad.[8] He suffered a season ending elbow injury in the tournament.[9]

On 30 April 2014, Jennings re-signed with the Panthers on a 2-year contract.[10]

In Round 1 of the 2015 NRL season, Jennings made his NRL debut for the Panthers against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[11] He scored a try on debut.

In September 2016, Jennings signed a one-year contract with the Parramatta Eels starting in 2017, after not receiving any game time in the 2016 NRL season.[12]

On 2 April 2018, Jennings made his debut for Parramatta in their 30–20 defeat by the Wests Tigers.[13] On 28 August 2018, Jennings won the Jack Gibson NRL Coaches Award after being voted the club's best back.[14] On 30 October 2018, Jennings signed a one-year contract extension to remain at Parramatta until the end of the 2019 season.[15]

Jennings began the 2019 NRL season in reserve grade as coach Brad Arthur chose both Blake Ferguson and Maika Sivo as the club's first choice wingers. In Round 10, Jennings was called into the Parramatta side to cover for the suspended Sivo as the club travelled to Townsville to face North Queensland.

With the scores locked at 10–10, Jennings attempted a pass across his own goal line to Ferguson on the first tackle. Ferguson lost the ball and North Queensland crossed over for the match winning try. The following week, Jennings kept his spot on the wing as Parramatta lost to last placed Penrith 16–10. Jennings was then subsequently demoted to reserve grade by Arthur.[16][17]

After being demoted, Jennings made no further appearances for Parramatta in the 2019 NRL season. Jennings instead played for the club's feeder side the Wentworthville Magpies in the Canterbury Cup NSW competition. Jennings scored a try in Wentworthville's 2019 grand final defeat against Newtown at the Western Sydney Stadium.[18]

In round 10 of the 2020 NRL season, Jennings was called into the Parramatta side as a replacement for the injured Blake Ferguson. In his first touch of the ball, Jennings knocked on which lead to a Manly try. In the final play of the game, Jennings scored a try but it was not enough as Parramatta lost the match 22–18 at Brookvale Oval.[19]

Midway through the 2020 NRL season, Jennings was loaned out to the New Zealand Warriors side. He made his debut for the club in their round 12 victory over the Wests Tigers at the Sydney Cricket Ground.[20]

At the end of the 2020 regular season, Parramatta finished in third place and qualified for the finals. Jennings was a late inclusion for Parramatta in their elimination final match against South Sydney. Jennings scored two tries as Parramatta lost 38–24 at Bankwest Stadium.[21]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Jennings (rugby league).

• Parramatta Eels profile
• Penrith Panthers profile
• NRL profile