Jeff Orford (born 11 January 1971) 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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s. He played for

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

, St. George,

Gold Coast Chargers The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994, the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997, and the National Rugby League premiership ...

and South Sydney in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. Orford primarily played on the .

Playing career

Orford was an

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players ...

representative in 1989. In 1990, he was graded by the

Eastern Suburbs Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen ...

. He made his first grade debut in his sides' 16−14 victory over the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in t ...

at the Sydney Football Stadium in round 9 of the 1991 season. In 1992, Orford was selected to play on the wing in the

City Origin The Sydney Rugby League team, known as the City Rugby League team, or Combined Sydney, or Sydney Firsts, or Sydney Capitals, is a representative rugby league team. From 2021, the men's team is to consist of players selected from the New South Wa ...

side in the annual

City vs Country Origin City vs Country Origin was an annual Australian rugby league football match that took place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represented the Sydney metropolitan area. While technically it was Sydney ...

game, and was considered unlucky to miss out on a spot in the

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 , es ...

side in the 1992

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...

Graham Mackay Graham Mackay (born 12 October 1968) is a former international and state representative rugby league footballer whose club career spanned Ten Australian and English clubs, including Western Suburbs, Penrith, Gold Coast Chargers, Hull FC and ...

and

Rod Wishart Rod Wishart (born 15 October 1968) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played the 1980s and 1990s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative goal-kicking winger, he played club f ...

were instead chosen as the wingers. Orford was once again picked in the

side in the 1993

game. This would be Orford's last appearance in a senior representative game, as he was once again overlooked for selection the 1993

team. After a poor 1994 season in which the Roosters only won 6 of their 22 games, Orford left the Roosters at season's end. In 1995, Orford joined the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

in a direct swap with Andrew Walker who subsequently left the Dragons to join the Roosters. After playing only 8 games with the Dragons, Orford was once again on the move at the end of the 1995 season. In 1996, Orford joined the

. He played 13 games for the Chargers. He decided to return to Sydney at the conclusion of the 1996 season. Orford sought to return to the Roosters, but after being turned down by his old club, Orford instead signed with arch rivals the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...

for the 1997 season. In 1997, Orford played his final season of rugby league at the

. Whilst not fully recapturing his stellar form from his days at the Roosters, he made 10 appearances for South Sydney and scored 5 tries including a double in his sides' 20−16 win over the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

in round 13 of the 1997 season. Orford trained with Souths at the start of the 1998 season, but after suffering a serious knee injury in a trial match, he subsequently retired from the game. He finished his career after playing 101 games and scoring 30 tries.Whitticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', p. 553.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orford, Jeff 1971 births Australian rugby league players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players Sydney Roosters players St. George Dragons players Gold Coast Chargers players South Sydney Rabbitohs players Rugby league wingers Living people Rugby league players from Sydney