Michael Jennings (rugby league)

Michael Jennings

Jennings playing for Tonga at the 2008 World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Michael Joseph Jennings
Born	20 April 1988 (1988-04-20) (age 23) Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	91 kg (14 st 5 lb)
Playing information
Position	Centre, Wing, Fullback
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2007–	Penrith Panthers	100	61	0	0	240
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2008	Tonga	3	3	0	0	12
2009–2011	NSW City	2	1	0	0	4
2009–2011	New South Wales	4	1	0	0	4
2009	Prime Minister's XIII	1	3	0	0	12
2010	NRL All Stars	1	1	0	0	4
As of 5 June 2011
Source: Rugby League Project

Michael Joseph "Jenko" Jennings (born 20 April 1988 in Blacktown, New South Wales) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Penrith Panthers of the National Rugby League. A Tongan and Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative centre, he has played his whole career to date with the Panthers.

Playing career

While attending St Dominics College, Penrith, Jennings played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 2005.^[1]

Jennings was the Rookie of the Year as well as the Player of the Year at the Penrith Panthers in 2007.^[2]

Jennings primarily plays in the centres and he can also play on the wing.

Jennings was named in the Prime Minister's XIII in 2008 and scored a try against Papua New Guinea.^[3] Jennings was also named in the Tonga squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.^[4] He played in three matches for Tonga and scored three tries.^[5] While he was also named in the preliminary 46-man Kangaroos squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup,^[6][7] he was not selected to play.

He was selected for City in the City vs Country match on 8 May 2009.

In May 2009, Jennings was named in the 17 man squad to represent New South Wales in the opening State of Origin match on 3 June 2009, in Melbourne.^[8] His selection hopes were bolstered when he scored a memorable 108m try against Sydney Roosters.^[9]Jennings went on to play in the third game of the State of Origin series after missing the second due to injury.

At the end of the 2009 NRL season, Jennings travelled to Europe with the Australian team for the 2009 Four Nations tournament. He made his debut for the Kangaroos in the match against France and scored a hat-trick. Jennings thus became the 4th Kangaroo since Lionel Morgan in 1960, Brad Mackay in 1990 and David Williams in 2008 to score a hat-trick on debut for Australia and also receiving man of the match.

After a poor start to the 2011 NRL season he was a controversial selection in the NSW team for the first State of Origin match. However he responded with an excellent performance, scoring a try and being rated one of the best^[10] in a beaten Blues team.

On 12 August 2011 Jennings was dropped from the NRL team for showing up to training under the influence of alcohol. He had also been fined $10,000 earlier in 2011 for drinking, and it has been understood that he is on his last chance at the club.

Jennings season was cut short by an injury succumbed in the 26 to 12 loss against the New Zealand Warriors during Round 24, when Jennings played as fullback.^[11] 2011 was quite a down season for Jennings, marred by numerous injuries, off-field controversies, and scoring just 4 tries during the whole year - one at Origin level, one at Club level, and two whilst playing NSW Cup in Round 23 for the Panthers' feeder team, the Windsor Wolves, against the Newcastle Knights feeder team, the Central Coast Centurions.

References

1. ^ "SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". SportingPulse. http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=7-2130-0-0-0&sID=26424. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 
2. ^ Agence France-Presse (2009-11-08). "Penrith Panthers centre Michael Jennings ready to tackle final". foxsports.com.au (Premier Media Group Pty Ltd). http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,26320761-5019264,00.html. Retrieved 2009-11-22. 
3. ^ PM'S XIII 53-PNG 30
4. ^ "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 8 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7658506.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
5. ^ "Michael Jennings – Matches played for Tonga". The Rugby League Project. http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/Custom/NjYtLS0tLS0tLTU1NjMtLS0tLXktLS0=. Retrieved 19 April 2009. 
6. ^ Liam FitzGibbon (1 August 2008). "Surprises in Kangaroos squad". "Fox Sports News (Australia)". http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24111780-23214,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-02. 
7. ^ "Veteran Lockyer named in Australian squad". International Herald Tribune. 1 August 2008. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/01/sports/AS-RGL-Australia-Squad.php. Retrieved 2008-08-02. 
8. ^ Fitzgibbon, Liam (25 May 2009). "NSW selectors go with form and not reputation for Origin opener". Fox Sports News (Australia). http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,25537374-5018993,00.html. Retrieved 30 May 2009. 
9. ^ 109m try earns Jennings a Blue Jersey
10. ^ Toohey, Barry. "Origin: how the players rated". http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/halftime-origin-player-ratings/story-e6frfghx-1226062968391. 
11. ^ Jancetic, Steve. "Warriors move into NRL top four". http://www.theroar.com.au/2011/08/21/warriors-move-into-nrl-top-four/. 

External links

• Penrith Panthers profile

Persondata
Name	Jennings, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	20 April 1988
Place of birth	Blacktown
Date of death
Place of death