Ryan Hoffman (born 26 January 1984) 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 played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for

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. ...

and 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 ...

in 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 ...

, and the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

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 ...

, as a .

Early life

Hoffman was born in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

. His father, Jay Hoffman, played professional football for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

, representing

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in the pre-

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * Origin (comics), ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * The Origin (Buffy comic), ''The Origin'' (Bu ...

era. Hoffman attended the renowned rugby league school St Gregory's College in

Campbelltown, New South Wales Campbelltown is a suburb located on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney south-west of the Sydney central business district by road. Campbelltown is the admini ...

Club career

Melbourne Storm (2003–2010)

Hoffman started his NRL career with the

in 2003. In 2006, his improving form led to him being selected for the New South Wales City Origin side for the first time. It also earned him the Storm's ''Forward of the Year'' award. In addition, he was named in the second row for Melbourne Storm's team of the decade. Following 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 ...

loss to 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 ...

, Hoffman sat in the middle of

Telstra Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stadi ...

in tears, an image which was printed in newspapers all around Australia. In 2007, Hoffman was part of the Melbourne team which won the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, defeating Manly by 34–8. He played in the

2009 NRL Grand Final The 2009 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership season. Played on 4 October 2009 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium was contested between the Parramatta Eels and the Melbourne Storm, the latte ...

victory over 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 ...

, scoring the opening try. In 2010, both premierships which Hoffman won with Melbourne were stripped due to the club's breaches of the salary cap between 2006-2010.

Wigan Warriors (2011)

In July 2010, Hoffman signed with

club

, where he was given the #16 shirt and replaced

Phil Bailey Phil Bailey (born 25 May 1980) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays for the New York Knights in the USA Rugby League. A former New South Wales and Australian representative player. He previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland ...

at second-row. Hoffman scored on his first-grade début for the side at the season-opening

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 ...

event against the club's rivals,

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 ...

He then featured in the

2011 World Club Challenge The 2011 World Club Challenge (known as the Probiz World Club Challenge due to sponsorship) was contested by Super League XV champions, Wigan Warriors, and 2010 NRL Premiers, the St. George Illawarra Dragons, at Wigan's home ground, DW Stadium. T ...

where Wigan lost 15–21 to

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- ...

in their first home game of the season. In rounds 4 and 5, Hoffman scored a try apiece against

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 ...

and

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 ...

respectively. Another try at

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 ...

in Round 9 made his record four tries from ten starting games for Wigan. Hoffman played in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final victory over 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 ...

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 ...

, playing as a second-row forward, helping the side to defeat Leeds 28-18.

Melbourne Storm (2012–2014)

Hoffman signed a new deal to return to the NRL and the Melbourne Storm in 2012. Midseason, he captained the team for four games in the absence of

Cameron Smith Cameron Smith may refer to: * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1983), Australian rugby league footballer * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1998), English rugby league footballer * Cameron Smith (golfer) (born 1993), Australian golfer * Cammy Smi ...

, becoming the 18th player to captain the club. He played in their 2012 Premiership victory over

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs o ...

, scoring the first try of the game. He set up the first try for teammate

Billy Slater William Slater (born 18 June 1983), is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and one-time captain of the Queensland State of Origin team, he played his entire ...

in the

2013 World Club Challenge The 2013 World Club Challenge (PROBIZ World Club Challenge for sponsorship purposes) was the fourteenth consecutive annual World Club Challenge and was contested by Super League XVII champions, Leeds Rhinos and 2012 NRL Premiers, the Melbourne St ...

victory over

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

New Zealand Warriors (2015–2017)

On 7 May 2014 Hoffman announced that he had signed a three-year deal with the

, worth an estimated $1.6 million. In April 2015 Hoffman played his 250th NRL career game against his former club

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is an outdoor sports stadium on the site of Edwin Flack Field in the Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the Melbourne central business district. When completed ...

. On 17 February 2016 Hoffman was named the new club captain, after incumbent captain

Simon Mannering Simon Alexander Mannering (born 28 August 1986) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL. A New Zealand international second row forward, ...

stepped down from the role. Hoffman is the second Australian to have captained the New Zealand club, after Steve Price. On 1 February 2017, new Warriors coach

Stephen Kearney Stephen Peter Kearney (born 11 June 1972) is a New Zealand professional rugby league football coach who until 2020 was the head coach of the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and a former player. A New Zealand national captain and second-row for ...

announced that Hoffman would be replaced as captain and would not be re-signed for the 2018 season. On 10 June, Hoffman became just the 27th player (in the game) to reach the 300th game milestone. In his 300th game, he scored the first try of the game (in the first half) and kicked a conversion goal (to Hingano's try, in the 80th minute) during the

Warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

' 34-12 round 14 win against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

Melbourne Storm (2018)

On 10 October 2017 the Melbourne Storm announced that Hoffman would return to the club on a 1-year deal that saw him end his playing career at the club. On Tuesday the 3rd of July Hoffman publicly announced that he was retiring at the end of the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

Representative career

While attending Campbelltown St. Gregory's College, Hoffman played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 2002. He was named as the 18th man for

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 ...

in the 2007 ANZAC Test against

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 ...

. In October, 2007, he was selected in the run-on side for the Centenary Test against New Zealand in Wellington. Again as 18th man, Hoffman was on stand-by for the 2007

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 ...

State of Origin Team in game 1 of the series. He was selected on the bench in game 2 and 3 of the same series. In 2008, Hoffman was named in the New South Wales starting side in all three Origin matches. In August 2008, he was named in the

Australia national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of Rugby league in Australia, the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Admin ...

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 City in the

City vs Country A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

match on 8 May 2009.

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2018 season''

State of Origin

Australia

Honours

Melbourne Storm *

Runner-up *

2007 NRL Grand Final The 2007 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive, premiership-deciding match of the 2007 NRL season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and second-placed Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at Telstra Stadium on 30 September, in front of 8 ...

Winners *

2008 World Club Challenge The 2008 Carnegie World Club Challenge was contested between Super League XII champions, the Leeds Rhinos and National Rugby League season 2007 premiers, the Melbourne Storm. For the fifth consecutive year the English home team defeated their Aust ...

Runner-up *

Winners *

2010 World Club Challenge The 2010 World Club Challenge (known as the Gillette World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by Gillette Fusion) was a rugby league tournament contested by Super League XIV champions, Leeds Rhinos, and 2009 NRL Premiers the Melbourne Storm. This ...

Winners *

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 ...

Winners *

2018 World Club Challenge The 2018 World Club Challenge (also known as the 2018 Downer World Club Challenge was the 26th staging of the World Club Challenge. It took place on 16 February 2018, and featured Super League champions Leeds Rhinos, and NRL winners Melbourne ...

Winners Wigan Warriors *

Runners-Up *

2011 Challenge Cup The 2011 Challenge Cup (also known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 110th staging of the most competitive European rugby league tournament at club level and was open to teams from England, Wales, Scotland, France and R ...

Winners Individual * 2012 - Melbourne Storm - Forward of the Year * 2013 - Spirit of ANZAC Medal * 2014 - Brad Fittler Medal

Footnotes

External links

Melbourne Storm profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Ryan 1984 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian republicans Australian rugby league players Melbourne Storm players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players New Zealand Warriors captains New Zealand Warriors players NRL All Stars players Prime Minister's XIII players Rugby league players from Canberra Rugby league second-rows Wigan Warriors players