Shane Elford (born 28 December 1977), 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 as a er and in the 1990s and 2000s. He played 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 ...

for

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

clubs, Penrith and

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

(with whom he won the 2005 Premiership), mostly at . Elford also played 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 English club 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 ...

Playing career

Elford was born in

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

and would go on to play for Penrith's NRL team. His junior club was St Marys and he made his first grade debut in round 21, for Penrith against Canberra at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports v ...

on 2 August 1998. He missed Penrith's

2003 NRL grand final The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the 2003 NRL season. In what was a contest of Sydney's east versus west, defending premiers the Sydney Roosters played against minor premiers the Penrith Panthers. The ...

-winning team. Joining Wests Tigers from 2004, Elford was a member of the 2005 NRL Grand Final-winning team, playing at centre in their 30–16 win over the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

. Despite an announcement that Elford would be joining the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...

from 2006, he remained with the club for another year. Following injuries to

Benji Marshall Benjamin Quentin Marshall (born 25 February 1985) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played at or . He previously played for the Wests Tigers in two separate spells, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Bro ...

and

Paul Whatuira Paul Whatuira (pronounced , born 31 July 1981) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Parramatta Eels in the NRL in 2011. A New Zealand international , he won National Rugby League premierships with ...

during the 2006 season, Elford was trialled at five-eighth during rounds 21 to 26. His first assignment was handling

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 ...

captain

Darren Lockyer Darren James Lockyer (born 24 March 1977) is an Australian television commentator and former professional rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire profes ...

. The Tigers won that match 20–6 and were the third-last club to beat the eventual premiers before the finals. This was seen as a massive upset as the Tigers were without Marshall, Whatuira and captain

Brett Hodgson Brett Hodgson (born 12 February 1978) is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional player during the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin representative goal-kicking , he played his club football in the NRL ...

for the remainder of the 2006 season, and the Broncos were at full strength. At the end of 2006, Elford signed a three-year contract with English club Huddersfield, saying he was influenced by the signing of former team-mate

John Skandalis John Skandalis (born 16 June 1976) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Western Suburbs Magpies and for the Wests Tigers in two separate spells in the Na ...

and the recommendation of

Brad Drew Brad Drew (born 25 August 1975) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A City New South Wales representative hooker, he played in Australia for Penrith, Parramatta and Canberra and in ...

. Elford signed a one-year deal with his former club Penrith after being released by Huddersfield in 2008. Elford said, "When I left the Tigers I never thought I'd come back to the NRL but once the offer from the Panthers came up, it was too good an opportunity to pass up." In 2010, Elford scored four tries from his five appearances. In his last

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 ...

game, Elford captained the Penrith team from the wing in the absence of

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

players

Petero Civoniceva Petero Civoniceva ( (Thee-vo-nee-thee-vah); born 21 April 1976), is a Fijian-Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representa ...

Trent Waterhouse Trent Waterhouse (born 8 January 1981), also known by the nickname of "House", is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a forward for the Thirroul Butchers in the Illawarra Rugby League. He has previously played for t ...

and

Luke Lewis Luke Lewis (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian rugby league commentator and former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia ...

. A serious knee injury saw him play no further games.

Post playing

After his retirement, Elford was employed by Penrith as a full-time Welfare Education Officer, helping young players adjust when they relocated after joining the club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elford, Shane 1977 births Living people Australian rugby league players Penrith Panthers players Huddersfield Giants players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Penrith, New South Wales Wests Tigers players Windsor Wolves players