Greg Eastwood (born 10 March 1987) is a New Zealand 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. A

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

international forward, he played in the

NRL 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 ...

for the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

and

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

, 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 The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

Early years

Born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, Eastwood is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

descent and played his junior football for the

Manurewa Marlins The Manurewa Marlins are a rugby league club based in Manurewa, New Zealand. In 2018 the Marlins will compete in Auckland Rugby League's Sharman Cup competition. Between 2000 and 2003 they competed in the national Bartercard Cup competition. N ...

in South Auckland before being signed by the

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

début for the Broncos against the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

. He played in most of the 2006 Brisbane Broncos season'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 The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

. As 2006 NRL Premiers, the

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

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

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 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 ...

and

, 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 The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

, 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 The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

Return to Canterbury-Bankstown

Eastwood re-commenced playing in the NRL in the 2011 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs season. 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

. Following a season-ending tackle on Benji Marshall in week 1 of the 2015 finals series, against 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 regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

, 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 The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

defeating Newtown 18-12. The following week, Eastwood played in Canterbury's 42-18 victory over Redcliffe in the

NRL State Championship The NRL State Championship is a rugby league match contested by the premiers of the two elite second-tier competitions in Australia, the New South Wales Cup and the Queensland Cup. The match has been played as a curtain-raiser to the NRL Grand F ...

Newtown

On 15 January 2019, Eastwood signed a contract to join

side Newtown. In his first season at Newtown, the club finished 7th on the table and then reached the 2019

Canterbury Cup NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

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 The Wentworthville Magpies, colloquially known as ''Wenty'', are a rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in various Sydney district competitions an ...

at the

Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, commercially known as CommBank Stadium, is a multi-purpose rectangular stadium in Parramatta, within the Greater Western Sydney region, approximately west of Sydney CBD. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium ...

. Eastwood played for Newtown the following week in their

victory over the

Burleigh Bears The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. Since their admission to the competition in 1997, the ...

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

Glebe

In February 2020, Eastwood signed a contract to join

Ron Massey Cup The Ron Massey Cup (formerly known as the Bundaberg Red Cup and Jim Beam Cup) is a semi-professional development level rugby league competition in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, run jointly by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and the ...

and NSWRL foundation side

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

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