Ben Jeffries

Ben Jeffries (born 4 September 1980) is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Newcastle Knights NRL Women's Premiership team, the PNG Orchids and the Indigenous Women's All Stars.^[4]

Ben Jeffries

Personal information
Born	(1980-09-04) 4 September 1980 (age 44) Forster, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	176 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	82 kg (12 st 13 lb)[1]
Position	Stand-off, Scrum-half
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2001 St. George Illawarra 1 0 0 0 0 2001–02 Wests Tigers 27 7 5 0 38 2002–07 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 143 69 7 4 294 2008–09 Bradford Bulls 49 15 0 0 60 2010–11 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 27 8 13 1 59 2011–12 Bradford Bulls 37 8 0 0 32 Total 284 107 25 5 483
Coaching information
Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 2020–23 Indigenous Women's All Stars 3 2 0 0 67 2022– PNG Orchids 5 3 0 2 60 2023 NQ Cowboys Women 9 2 0 7 22 2024– Newcastle Knights Women 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3]

A stand-off or scrum-half, he played the majority of his career for Wakefield Trinity and the Bradford Bulls in the Super League after starting his career playing for the St George Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers in the NRL.

Playing career

Early years

Born in Forster, Jeffries grew up in Forster and attended Forster High School, where he represented the Australian Schoolboys in 1998 and was signed by the Newcastle Knights.^[5][6]

St George Illawarra Dragons

In 2000, after two seasons in the Knights' lower grades, Jeffries joined the St George Illawarra Dragons.^[7][8] In Round 4 of the 2001 NRL season, he made his NRL debut in the Dragons 34–6 loss to the New Zealand Warriors, his only appearance for the club.^[9]

Wests Tigers

In 2001, Jeffries joined the Wests Tigers halfway through the season, playing nine games. In 2002, he played 18 games for the side, starting 16 at halfback.^[10][11]

Wakefield Trinity

In 2003, Jeffries joined Super League side Wakefield Trinity, playing 27 games in his first season at the club.^[12][13] In 2004, he played 33 games, scoring 24 tries and leading Wakefield to the finals.^[14] In 2005, he despite Wakefield's 10th-place finish, Jeffries scored 20 tries in 27 games, finishing as the club's top try scorer. Following his successful 2005 season, he signed a new three-year deal with the club.^[15] In 2007, after 143 games for the club, Jeffries joined the Bradford Bulls.

Bradford Bulls

In 2007, Jeffries played 27 games for the Bradford Bulls as they qualified for the finals series. On 11 September 2009, after two seasons with Bradford, he signed a three-year deal to return to Wakefield.^[16][17]

Wakefield Trinity (second stint)

In 2010, Jeffries played 22 games in his return season for Wakefield. On 7 May 2011, after playing five games for the Wakefield, Jeffries re-joined Bradford on an 18-month contract.^[18]

Bradford Bulls (second stint)

Jeffries appeared in every game for the rest of the 2011 season after returning to Bradford, starting at five-eighth from Round 14 to Round 27. In 2012, he featured in five consecutive games from Round 4 to Round 8. He missed Round 9 due to injury but returned a week later to play in nine consecutive games from Round 10 to Round 18. He also played in Round 20 and then from Round 23 to Round 26.

On 5 September 2012, he announced his departure from the Bradford Bulls to return to Australia to play part-time for the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs. At the time, Jeffries was the only Australian to play 10 consecutive years in the Super League.

Northern Pride

In 2014 Jeffries signed to the Cairns-based Northern Pride Queensland Cup side. He sustained an arm injury in his debut game and did not play again that season.

Coaching career

In 2014, Jeffries worked as an assistant coach for the Newcastle Knights SG Ball Cup side. Later that year, he joined the Northern Pride Queensland Cup side, playing one game, and working as the strength & conditioning and hookers & halves coach for their Cyril Connell Cup and Mal Meninga Cup sides.^[19] In 2015, he left the club after playing three trial games, being granted a release.^[20][21]

In 2015, Jeffries began working for the NRL as a Development Manager in Townsville. In 2016, he coached the Townsville women's team and the NQ Marlins under-14 girls side. On 19 October 2016, he became head coach of the Queensland Murri women's team.^[22]

In 2017, he joined the North Queensland Cowboys as an assistant coach their under-20 side under head coach Aaron Payne. Later that year, he was an assistant coach for the Queensland women's team.^[23]

In 2018, he was the assistant coach for the Townsville Blackhawks and head coach for the QAS women's under-18 squad.^[24]

On 20 December 2018, Jeffries was announced as the North Queensland Cowboys Elite Pathways coach, taking over from Aaron Payne.^[25]

In 2020, Jeffries coached the Indigenous Women's All Stars. He was again named head coach of the side for 2022 and 2023.^[26] In 2022, he coached the PNG Orchids at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.^[27]

On 24 November 2022, he was announced as the North Queensland Cowboys inaugural NRLW head coach.^[28] On 15 December 2023, he was released by the club.^[29]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2012 season^[30]

NRL

Season	Team	Matches	T	G	GK %	F/G	Pts
2001	St George Illawarra	1	0	0	—	0	0
2001	Wests Tigers	9	2	0	—	0	8
2002	Wests Tigers	18	5	5	55.56%	0	30
Career totals		28	7	5	55.56%	0	38

Super League

Season	Team	Matches	T	G	GK %	F/G	Pts
2003	Wakefield Trinity	27	9	1	—	0	38
2004	Wakefield Trinity	33	24	0	—	4	100
2005	Wakefield Trinity	28	20	0	—	0	80
2006	Wakefield Trinity	26	5	6	—	0	32
2007	Wakefield Trinity	29	11	0	—	0	44
2008	Bradford	27	11	0	—	0	44
2009	Bradford	22	4	0	—	0	16
2010	Wakefield Trinity	22	5	13	—	1	47
2011	Wakefield Trinity	5	3	0	—	0	12
2011	Bradford	15	3	0	—	0	12
2012	Bradford	22	5	0	—	0	20
Career totals		256	100	20	—	5	445

References

1. "The official Engage Super League web site". web page. Super League. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
2. Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
3. loverugbyleague
4. "Jeffries appointed as Orchids coach". 9 February 2022.
5. "SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". SportingPulse. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
6. "Bradford Bulls – Rugby League Championship". Archived from the original on 14 May 2012.
7. "Dragons – Our Proud History – St George and Illawarra Rugby League".
8. "Ben Jeffries Player Profiles Locker Room St George Illawarra Dragons Rugby League". Archived from the original on 24 January 2001. Retrieved 24 January 2001.
9. "NRL 2001 – Round 4 – Rugby League Project".
10. "Wests Tigers First Grade Players – Wests Tigers". Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
11. "Custom Match List – Rugby League Project".
12. "Wildcats sign up Aussie duo". 31 October 2002.
13. "Sovatabua puts Castleford out of action". 9 February 2003.
14. "Sovatabua puts Castleford out of action". 9 February 2003.
15. "Jeffries agrees new Wildcats deal". 22 July 2005.
16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
17. "Jeffries makes return to Wildcats". 11 September 2009.
18. "Jeffries seals return to Bradford". BBC Sport.
19. O'Neill, Rhys (4 November 2014). "Riethmuller targeted". The Cairns Post.
20. O'Neill, Rhys (3 March 2015). "Northern Pride lose playmaker". The Cairns Post.
21. "New twist for NRL journeyman". 17 November 2014.
22. "Queensland Murri Women's squad". 19 October 2016.
23. "Vowles appointed Queensland women's coach". 19 January 2017.
24. "QRL announce 2018 representative staff". 22 December 2017.
25. "Cowboys appoint new Elite Pathways Coach". 20 December 2018.
26. Keoghan, Sarah. "'Let our voices be heard': Women not consulted over anthem axing". The Sydney Morning Herald.
27. "Jeffries appointed as Orchids coach". 9 February 2022.
28. "Cowboys announce women's leadership structure". NQ Cowboys. 24 November 2022.
29. "Club statement: Ben Jeffries". NQ Cowboys. 15 December 2023.
30. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Ben Jeffries – Career Stats & Summary – Rugby League Project". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 25 December 2018.