Grant Millington

Grant Millington (born 1 November 1986) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a prop, second-row or loose forward for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.

Grant Millington
Personal information
Full nameGrant Millington
Born (1986-11-01) 1 November 1986
Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Height6 ft 4 in (1.94 m)
Weight17 st 9 lb (112 kg)[1]
Playing information
PositionProp, Second-row, Loose forward
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–10 Cronulla Sharks 49 7 0 0 28
2011 Canterbury Bulldogs 7 1 0 0 4
2012– Castleford Tigers 230 31 0 0 124
Total 286 39 0 0 156
As of 26 December 2020
Source: [2][3]

Millington previously played in the NRL for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks between 2008 and 2010, and for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2011.[4]

Early life

Millington was born in Auburn, New South Wales, Australia.

He played his junior rugby league for the Cabramatta Two Blues and Wyong Roos.

Playing career

Cronulla Sharks

Millington made his first grade debut for Cronulla in Round 10 2008 against Brisbane. Cronulla went on to finish 3rd in 2008 but Millington made no appearances for the club during the finals series. In 2009, Millington made 17 appearances for Cronulla as they finished 2nd last on the table. In 2010, Millington played in nearly every game for Cronulla that year as the club finished near the bottom of the ladder.

Canterbury Bulldogs

In 2011, Millington joined Canterbury-Bankstown but only managed to make 7 appearances before being released by the club.

Castleford Tigers

Ahead of the 2012 season, Millington joined English side Castleford on a two-year deal.[4] He had an instant impact, making 22 appearances and scoring 4 tries in his first season.[5]

In July 2013, Millington signed a one-year contract extension with the Tigers, with head coach Daryl Powell labelling him "a stand-out performer".[6] This was followed by a further contract extension in February 2014.[7] Millington was voted as the Fan's Player of the Year for the 2014 season.[8]

Millington was named Directors' Player of the Year and 2nd Place Player of the Year for the 2015 season, of which he played every game.[9]

In 2016, due to the Tigers' extensive injury list, Millington displayed his positional versatility by starting 3 games at halfback for Castleford.

Millington played a crucial role in the 2017 Castleford campaign, contributing to the Tigers' first League Leaders' Shield and Grand Final appearance. He played in the 2017 Super League Grand Final defeat to the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[10][11][12] He was consequently named in the Super League Dream Team,[13] and won the club's 2nd Place Player of the Year award.[14]

Millington was named 3rd Place Player of the Year for the 2018 season.[15]

At Castleford's 2019 end-of-season awards night, Millington picked up the Community Player of the Year title in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the local area and his hard work off the field in conjunction with the Castleford Tigers Community Foundation.[16]

Following his excellent start to the 2020 Super League season, Castleford head coach Powell stated that "this year he's at a different level" and expressed his intention to open further contract talks with Millington.[17]

Since signing with Castleford, Millington has turned into a fans favourite due to his consistency and commitment. He is utilised as a skilful, ball-handling and intelligent prop / second row forward and has even been called upon to cover in the halves on occasion. He is widely recognised by fans as one of the club's greatest imports.

References
  1. "Castleford Tigers 1st Team Grant Millington". Official Castleford Tigers web site. Castleford Tigers Rugby League Football Club Ltd. 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  2. loverugbyleague
  3. "Grant Millington - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". Rugbyleagueproject.org.
  4. "Castleford Tigers sign Grant Millington & Lee Mitchell". BBC Sport. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  5. "Grant Millington". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  6. "Grant Millington signs new Castleford Tigers contract". 5 July 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  7. "Grant Millington extends Castleford Tigers deal". 20 February 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  8. "2014 Player of the Year Awards Winners".
  9. "Player of the Year 2015". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  10. "Castleford 6-24 Leeds: Grand Final 2017 – as it happened". Guardian. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  11. "Grand Final 2017: Castleford 6-24 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  12. "Danny McGuire guides Leeds to Grand Final success over Castleford". Guardian. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  13. "Super League Dream Team: Six Castleford Tigers players in team of 2017 season". 25 September 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  14. "2017 Winners". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  15. "2018 Awards Winners". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  16. "Watts at the treble on awards night". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  17. "Grant Millington stakes claim to make it a decade at Castleford Tigers". www.pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
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