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 The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

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

Brisbane Broncos

In round 26 of the

2005 NRL season The 2005 NRL season was the 98th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the eighth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen teams contesting the 2005 Telst ...

, Eastwood made his NRL début for the Broncos against the Parramatta Eels. He played in most of the

2006 Brisbane Broncos season The 2006 Brisbane Broncos season was the nineteenth in the club's history. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Darren Lockyer, they won the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in 3rd place before going on to defe ...

's games but was not selected for the

2006 NRL Grand final The 2006 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and the third-placed Brisbane Broncos clubs on the night of Sunday, 1 ...

win over the Melbourne Storm. As 2006 NRL Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos travelled to England to face 2006

champions,

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and becom ...

in the

2007 World Club Challenge The 2007 Carnegie World Club Challenge was played between Super League XI champions, St. Helens and 2006 National Rugby League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. It was a replay of the 2001 World Club Challenge, and both clubs' fifth WCC appearanc ...

. 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 The 2007 All Golds Tour was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team, the Kiwis, of Great Britain and France. Conducted as part of the celebrations of a century of rugby league in New Zealand, it was a re-creation of the original New Ze ...

. 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

After three seasons in Brisbane, Eastwood signed with Leeds Rhinos of the

for the 2009 season, however his visa to play in the United Kingdom was denied. While his visa was being appealed, several NRL clubs, including the New Zealand Warriors and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, expressed interest in signing him. 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.

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. 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. In August 2010, Eastwood announced that he would be returning to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2011. Eastwood played from the bench in the 2010 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.

Return to Canterbury-Bankstown

Eastwood re-commenced playing in the NRL in the

2011 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs season The 2011 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs season is the 77th in the club's history. They are competing in the National Rugby League's 2011 Telstra Cup Premiership under coach Jim Dymock after Kevin Moore stepped down from the position on 14 July 20 ...

. He played in the

2012 NRL Grand final The 2012 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2012 NRL season. Played on Sunday, 30 September at Sydney's ANZ Stadium between the minor premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the second-placed Melbourne Sto ...

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. He was named in the New Zealand Māori squad for a match against the

New Zealand Residents The New Zealand Residents (also previously known as New Zealand 'A', New Zealand XIII, the Lion Red Cup XIII and currently known as the Bartercard Premiership Selection) are a New Zealand rugby league football representative side that is selected f ...

on 15 October 2016. 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. 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. 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.

Newtown

On 15 January 2019, Eastwood signed a contract to join Intrust Super Premiership NSW side Newtown. 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.

Glebe

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

References

External links

Canterbury Bulldogs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastwood, Greg 1987 births New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand people of English descent New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand national rugby league team players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Leeds Rhinos players Brisbane Broncos players Manurewa Marlins players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Rugby league locks Rugby league second-rows Rugby league props Rugby league players from Auckland People educated at Keebra Park State High School Living people People educated at Manurewa High School