Jermaine McGillvary (born 16 May 1988) is an English 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 plays on the for the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...

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 ...

. He has played for the

England Knights England Knights (previously known as Emerging England and England A) is considered the feeder team for the England rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an i ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at international level. He has spent time on loan from

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

and Barrow in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Background

McGillvary was born in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England, and he is of Grenadian descent. McGillvary is a product of the Giants' academy system.

Playing career

After signing for the

, McGillvary was sent out on loan to

for the 2009 Co-operative Championship, a season which saw him progress as a talent and earned him selection in the 2009 Championship team of the season.

Batley Bulldogs Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of th ...

' "most tries in a match" record of 5- tries, is jointly held by; Joe Oakland (1908), Tommy 'Dowdy' Brannan (against Swinton at Mount Pleasant,

on Saturday 17 January 1920), Jim Wale (1926 and 1927), Tommy Oldroyd (against Highfield on 6 March 1994), Ben Feehan (against Halifax on 18 August 2008), and Jermaine McGillvary (against

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

on 24 May 2009). He made his first-grade début in 2010, starting on the right wing against

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

in round 16 of 2010's

Super League XV The 2010 Super League season (known as the Engage Super League XV for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of the European rugby league football competition, Super League. Fourteen teams competed for the League Leaders' Shield over 27 rounds ( ...

. In 2011, McGillvary was awarded the Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year Medal. In the 2013 Super League season, McGillvary played 27 games and scored 19 tries as Huddersfield claimed the

League Leaders Shield The League Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. Currently, and for most of Super League's history, the championship is decided on the basis of a play-off se ...

for the first time in 81 years. Huddersfield would ultimately fall short of a grand final appearance that year. On 4 May 2014, McGillvary made his 100th appearance for

. Fittingly he scored a try in his team's crucial one point win over third placed

team, the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

. McGillvary finished as Super League's top try scorer in 2015, with 27, and earned selection in the

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists an ...

. On 4 October 2020, McGillvary scored two tries in a 32-22 victory over

Hull KR Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

. In the process, he moved into the Super League's top ten highest ever try scorers list. In round 15 of the

2021 Super League season Super League XXVI, known as the Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The 2021 season was originally scheduled to begin on 11 March 2021, ho ...

, he scored four tries in Huddersfield's 40-26 victory over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

In the 2022 Challenge Cup semi-final, McGillvary earned man of the match honours as Huddersfield defeated

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

25-4 at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

. On 28 May 2022, McGillvary played for Huddersfield in their

2022 Challenge Cup Final The 2022 Challenge Cup Final was the 121st final of rugby league's Challenge Cup knock-out competition, which was contested between Huddersfield Giants and Wigan Warriors. It took place on 28 May 2022 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Wigan won ...

loss against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

. McGillvary scored a second half try during the match. In round 18 of the Super League XXVII season, McGillvary scored two tries for Huddersfield in a 30-18 victory over

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Magic Weekend The Magic Weekend (known as the Dacia Magic Weekend for sponsorship reasons) is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League in which an entire round of Super League matches is played over a weekend at a single stadium to promote the s ...

International career

McGillvary's was selected in Steve McNamara's 24-man England team for their test series against New Zealand. He made his début for England in the decisive final test-match at the DW Stadium. The following year, McGillvary was selected in the England squad for the 2016 Four Nations. Before the tournament, England played a

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

against France in which McGillvary scored a try in England's 40-6 win. Following the 2017 season, McGillvary was named in Wayne Bennett's England squad for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in Australia. McGillvary played on the wing in England's 6-0 defeat by Australia in the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

final. He finished the tournament with seven tries in five games and ran more meters than any other player in the tournament. In 2018 he was selected for

against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at the

Leigh Sports Village Leigh Sports Village is an £83 million multi-use sports,
retail and hou ...

. He was selected in

England 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was an international rugby league tournament played in the rugby league nines format, to be held in Australia on 18 and 19 October 2019. Twelve national teams competed, with four of those also fielding women's team ...

squad for the

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member ...

. He was selected in squad for the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour of the Southern Hemisphere. He made his

test debut in the defeat by Tonga. On 25 June 2021 he played for the Combined Nations All Stars, and scored a try, in their 26-24 victory over

, staged at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, as part of England’s

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

preparation. McGillvary subsequently announced his international retirement in June 2022.

References

External links

Huddersfield Giants profileSL profileStatistics at rlwc2017.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGillvary, Jermaine 1988 births Living people Barrow Raiders players Batley Bulldogs players Black British sportspeople Combined Nationalities rugby league team players England Knights national rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English sportspeople of Grenadian descent English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Huddersfield Rugby league wingers