Robert Jennings (rugby league)

Robert Jennings

Personal information
Full name	Robert Jennings
Born	(1996-01-02) 2 January 1996 (age 28) Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia
Height	187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	107 kg (16 st 12 lb)
Playing information
Position	Wing, Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2015 Penrith Panthers 5 1 0 0 4 2017–18 South Sydney 34 24 0 0 96 2019–20 Wests Tigers 23 8 0 0 32 2021–22 Penrith Panthers 8 1 0 0 4 2023– Dolphins 4 2 0 0 8 Total 74 36 0 0 144 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2018 Tonga 1 1 0 0 4
Source: [1] As of 3 September 2023

Robert Jennings (born 2 January 1996) is a Tongan international rugby league footballer who plays as a winger and centre for the Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL).

He previously played for the Penrith Panthers, the Wests Tigers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.

Background

Jennings was born in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia to Tongan-born parents. He is also of Fijian and English descent. Jennings is the younger brother of former Parramatta Eels player Michael Jennings and Melbourne Storm player George Jennings, ^[2] and nephew of 1960s All Black Arthur Jennings.

He played his junior football for the Western City Tigers and Minchinbury Jets, before being signed by the Penrith Panthers.

Playing career

Early career

In 2014, Jennings played for the Penrith Panthers' NYC team. ^[3] In November and December 2014, he played for the Australian Schoolboys. ^[4] In 2015, he moved on to the Panthers' New South Wales Cup team. ^[5]

Penrith Panthers (2015–2016)

In round 7 of the 2015 NRL season, Jennings made his NRL debut for Penrith against the Gold Coast Titans. ^[6] On 2 May 2015, he played for the Junior Kangaroos against Junior Kiwis. ^[7] On 8 July 2015, he played for the New South Wales Under-20s team against the Queensland Under-20s team. ^[8] At the time, he was contracted with Penrith until the end of 2016. ^[9]

Jennings was named in Penrith's squad for the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines. ^[10] After not receiving any game time in the 2016 NRL season, Jennings signed a one-year contract with the South Sydney Rabbitohs starting in 2017. ^[11] In September, he was named at centre in the 2016 NYC Team of the Year. ^[12]

South Sydney Rabbitohs (2017–2018)

Jennings was named in South Sydney's squad for the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines. He made his South Sydney debut against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in round 2, scoring a try and setting one up for teammate Robbie Farah. ^[13]

In round 3 of the 2018 NRL season, Jennings scored his first hat-trick of tries while playing for South Sydney in their 34–6 win over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at ANZ Stadium. In round 14 he scored four tries in the club's 42–24 smashing of the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium. Jennings finished off the 2018 season with 19 tries. ^[14]

Jennings playing for the Tigers in 2019

Wests Tigers (2019–2020)

On 21 February 2019, Jennings signed a two-year deal with the Wests Tigers after he was released by South Sydney. ^[15]

Jennings made a total of 18 appearances for the Wests Tigers in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished ninth on the table and missed out on the finals. ^{[16] [17]}

On 28 September 2020, Jennings was one of eight players released by the Wests Tigers. ^[18]

Penrith Panthers (2021–2022)

Jennings in 2021

Jennings returned to Penrith on a one-year deal. He made three appearances for Penrith in the 2021 NRL season, mainly filling in during the State of Origin period.

Jennings only played four NRL games in the 2022 NRL season and spent the majority of his time playing for Penrith's NSW Cup team. Jennings played for Penrith in their 2022 NSW Cup Grand Final victory over Canterbury. ^[19] On 2 October, Jennings played in Penrith's 44–10 victory over Norths Devils in the NRL State Championship final. ^[20]

Dolphins (2023–present)

In May 2022, Jennings signed a two-year contract with the Dolphins. ^[21] In round 7 of the 2023 NRL season, he made his club debut for the Dolphins against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium. In round 8, he scored two tries in the Dolphins 28–26 victory over the Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp Stadium. ^{[22] [23]}

Further information: 2023 Dolphins season

Further information: List of Dolphins (NRL) players

• 
  Jennings in Brisbane
• 
  Jennings seated on left
• 
  Jennings side-on
• 
  Jennings (centre) and Mark Nicholls

References

1. "Robert Jennings - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
2. "NRL 2015 season: Penrith Panthers young gun George Jennings on growing up in Michael's shadow". Fox Sports. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
3. "Round 16 v Warriors - Panthers". penrithpanthers.com.au. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
4. "Robert Jennings picked for the Australian Schoolboys rugby league team". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
5. "VB NSW CUP TEAMS ROUND 1". NSWRL.com.au. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
6. "NRL TEAM LIST - Panthers". penrithpanthers.com.au. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
7. "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
8. "PAY'S SAY: NSW Under-20s side". NSWRL.com.au. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
9. "Jennings brothers follow Michael's footsteps". NRL.com. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
10. "2016 Downer NRL Auckland Nines Official Squads". NRL.com. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
11. "Rabbitohs sign four up-and-coming players". Zero Tackle. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
12. "2016 Holden Cup Team of the Year announced". NRL.com. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
13. "2017 Auckland Nines squads: Every player named for the tournament". The Roar. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
14. "Wests Tigers sign Robert Jennings". Wests Tigers. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
15. Chammas, Michael (21 February 2019). "Wests Tigers sign Robert Jennings after Rabbitohs release". nrl.com. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
16. "Ruled out, Farah gets last-minute call-up after warm-up injury". NRL.com. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
17. Vlotis, George (9 September 2019). "Robbie Farah's cryptic chat with Paul Gallen ahead of Leichhardt Oval showdown". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
18. Austin, Jack (29 September 2020). "Tigers show EIGHT players the door as Madge cleans house after another miserable season". foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
19. "NSW Cup Grand Final 2022". nswrl.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
20. Lenehan, Martin (2 October 2022). "Sunia sizzles as Panthers down Devils in State Championship". nrl.com. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
21. Brunsdon, Simon (9 May 2022). "Robert Jennings joins the Dolphins, but doesn't fix Wayne Bennett's biggest problem". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
22. "Dolphins v Titans".
23. "Dolphins pip Gold Coast Titans 28-26 to grab slice of NRL history, Manly defeat Wests Tigers 22-16". abc.net.au. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

External links

• Dolphins profile
• Panthers profile
• Penrith Panthers profile
• Wests Tigers profile
• Rabbitohs profile
• South Sydney Rabbitohs profile