Tom Eisenhuth

Tom Eisenhuth

Personal information
Full name	Thomas Eisenhuth
Born	(1992-07-17) 17 July 1992 (age 32) Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
Height	192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
Position	Second-row, Lock
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2012 Penrith Panthers 1 0 0 0 0 2019–23 Melbourne Storm 58 5 0 0 20 2024– St. George Illawarra 23 1 0 0 4 Total 82 6 0 0 24
Source: [1] As of 31 August 2024

Tom Eisenhuth (born 17 July 1992) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock and second-row forward for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL).

He debuted as a centre for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL.

Early life

Eisenhuth was born in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales and was educated at St Columba's College, Springwood.^{[ citation needed ]}

He played his junior football for the Lower Mountains Eagles before being signed by the Penrith Panthers. He played for the Panthers' NYC team from 2010 to 2012, scoring 8 tries in 47 games. ^[2]

Eisenhuth is the cousin of fellow NRL player Matt Eisenhuth and retired Cronulla Sharks Captain Paul Gallen. ^[3]

Playing career

Penrith Panthers

In round 24 of the 2012 NRL season, Eisenhuth made his NRL debut for the Panthers in their 18–16 win over the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium. ^[4] Eisenhuth had travelled to Auckland as a member of the Panthers NRL Under-20s squad, but was called the NRL squad on the morning of the match. ^[5]

In 2013, Eisenhuth moved into Penrith's NSW Cup side, the Windsor Wolves. Between 2014 and 2018, Eisenhuth played 44 matches for Penrith's self-named NSW Cup team, scoring 18 tries. ^[6] In 2016, Eisenhuth played for the St Marys Saints in their Ron Massey Cup Grand Final loss. ^[7] On 26 June 2018, Eisenhuth was released from his contract with Penrith effective immediately. ^[8] He then signed with the Melbourne Storm for the remainder of the 2018 season, joining Storm affiliate club the Sunshine Coast Falcons. ^[5]

Melbourne Storm

In round 1 of the 2019 NRL season, Eisenhuth made his Melbourne Storm debut against the Brisbane Broncos at AAMI Park. He had his Melbourne jersey (cap number 192) presented to him by former Melbourne player Ryan Hoffman. ^[9] It marked Eisenhuth's second NRL appearance, his first in 2,398 days. ^[5]

Eisenhuth played a total of 17 games for Melbourne in the 2021 NRL season as the club won 19 matches in a row and claimed the Minor Premiership. Eisenhuth did not play in the club's finals series where Melbourne suffered a 10–6 loss against eventual premiers Penrith in the preliminary final. ^[10]

In 2022, Eisenhuth was named in the NRL and Rugby League Players Association academic team of the year. A qualified schoolteacher, Eisenhuth balanced his rugby league commitments with completing a Masters of Education through the Australian Catholic University. ^[11]

Eisenhuth would make 18 appearances for the Melbourne outfit in the 2023 NRL season, the most in a single season for his career. ^{[5] [12]} Following the end of the season, Melbourne announced that Eisenhuth would be leaving the club. ^[13]

Representative career

On 2 October 2012, Eisenhuth was named on the bench in the Junior Kangaroos team to face the Junior Kiwis. ^[14]

References

1. "Tom Eisenhuth". Rugby League Project.
2. "Eisenhuth, Tom". rleague.com.^{[ dead link ]}
3. Ward, Roy (17 September 2020). "Storm won't risk returning stars as Eisenhuth stakes claim for bench role". The Sydney Morning Herald.
4. "Rd 24 Final Teams & Changes – Panthers v Warriors – Penrith Panthers". Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
5. Hogan, Kelsey (20 September 2023). "How Storm helped Eisenhuth scratch the seven-year itch". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
6. "Tom Eisenhuth". NSWRL.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018.
7. Jarvis, Danielle (26 September 2016). "Ron Massey Cup decider shatters club's fairytale". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
8. "Panthers duo granted immediate release". penrithpanthers.com.au. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
9. Ward, Roy (20 July 2019). "Eight years in the making: Storm's Eisenhuth ready for game No.3". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Media. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
10. "Penrith Panthers beat Melbourne Storm 10-6 to reach second straight NRL grand final, will face South Sydney Rabbitohs". Australia: ABC News. 25 September 2021.
11. "Eisenhuth named in Academic Team of the Year". melbournestorm.com.au. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
12. Kuncoro, Kye (25 September 2023). "NRL 2023: Melbourne Storm season review". The Sporting News. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
13. "Eisenhuth farewells Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
14. "Junior Kangaroos side announced". 2 October 2012.

External links

• Melbourne Storm profile (archived)