Benjamin Creagh (born 6 February 1985) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who co-captained the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George, Sydney, St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since NR ...

of the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

. An Australian international and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , e ...

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

representative forward, he played his whole NRL career with the Dragons, with whom he won the

2010 NRL Premiership The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 Octobe ...

Early years

Creagh was born in Blacktown in Greater Western Sydney on 6 February 1985. In high school, Edmund Rice College in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...

, he excelled at basketball and rugby league. He later had the choice of joining the Wollongong Hawks NBL side or the

Playing career

Creagh joined

club St. George Illawarra and made his premiership debut in round 22 of the

2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed join ...

, against the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

at Oki Jubilee Oval on 10 August 2003. He was chosen to play for the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

team for the test against France in 2005. In August, 2008, Creagh was named in the preliminary 46-man Kangaroos squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

. He was selected for Country in the City vs Country match on 8 May 2009. In May 2009, he was named in the 17-man squad to represent

in the opening

match, held in Melbourne on 3 June 2009. He scored a try on this debut for NSW. On 14 May 2009, he officially signed to stay with the Dragons until the end of 2013. In game three of the

2009 State of Origin series The 2009 State of Origin series was the 28th time that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was played entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. Queensland won ...

Creagh was sin binned for a brief altercation with an opposing player. Creagh capped a memorable 2010 by winning the

2010 NRL Grand Final The 2010 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2010 NRL season. Played on Sunday, 3 October at Sydney's ANZ Stadium, the match was contested by the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the Sydney Roosters. It was ...

, making more metres than any forward on the park; 149 metres. In the annual club awards night, Creagh was named Dragons Player of the Year. This was the third time he had received the award. In 2012, Creagh set the record for most appearances for New South Wales Country, playing in his sixth game. St. George Illawarra announced on 18 August 2016 that Creagh was to retire at the conclusion of the 2016 NRL season.Dragons.com.au – Dragons Digital Media "Ben Creagh to retire at seasons end". 18 August 2016 At the time, he was the second most capped player in the club's history with 270 first grade games, behind

Ben Hornby Ben Hornby (born 18 February 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative back, he captained the St George I ...

who played in 273 games.

References

External links

Dragons profileBen Creagh NRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creagh, Ben 1985 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league players from Blacktown Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows St. George Illawarra Dragons players University of Wollongong alumni