Ryan Hinchcliffe (born 7 October 1984) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League, as a lock and hooker, and previously played for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL).
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| Born | 7 October 1984 Temora, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 182 cm (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 89 kg (14 st 0 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Lock, Hooker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
editHinchcliffe was born in Temora, New South Wales, Australia. He was educated at Temora High School and played junior rugby league for Temora Dragons.
Playing career
editHinchcliffe, a Temora Dragons junior, began his NRL career at Parramatta, although he previously played for the Canberra Raiders before moving to Melbourne, with whom he won the 2009 NRL Premiership. This premiership was later stripped in 2010 due to the club's multiple and deliberate breaches of the salary cap between 2006 and 2010.[4][5]
Hinchcliffe was a hooker and could also play in the second row. He joined the Melbourne Storm from the Canberra Raiders for the 2009 NRL season.[6] In Melbourne his impressive form resulted in reshuffles with Cameron Smith moving to five-eighth when lacking halves.[7]
Hinchcliffe won the Storm's Player of the Year Award in 2010.[8]
In 2012, he played in their premiership victory over Canterbury-Bankstown. Five months later, he played in their 2013 World Club Challenge win over Leeds.
In 2011 Hinchcliffe made his representative début for NSW Country and was again selected for the side in 2012.
On 22 June 2015, Hinchcliffe signed a 3-year contract with Super League team Huddersfield Giants starting in 2016.[9]
On 4 September 2018, Hinchcliffe announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season.[10]
Coaching career
editHinchcliffe returned to Melbourne following his retirement as a player, taking up a role as a development coach at Melbourne Storm.[11] He was a member of the coaching staff when Storm won the 2020 NRL Grand Final.
Statistics
edit| Year | Team | Games | Tries | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 |  Canberra Raiders
|
7 | 1 | 4 |
| 2008 | 14 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2009 |  Melbourne Storm
|
26 | 2 | 8 |
| 2010 | 23 | 4 | 16 | |
| 2011 | 25 | 4 | 16 | |
| 2012 | 27 | 4 | 16 | |
| 2013 | 23 | 3 | 12 | |
| 2014 | 25 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2015 | 26 | |||
| 2016 |  Huddersfield Giants
|
31 | 2 | 8 |
| 2017 | 30 | 6 | 24 | |
| 2018 | 31 | 4 | 16 | |
| Totals | 290 | 34 | 136 |
source; [12]
References
edit- ^ "Ryan Hinchcliffe – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Love Rugby League
- ^ "Telstra Premiership Scores". Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ^ "'They are ours': Why Cameron Smith will always recognise Storm's stripped premierships". Fox Sports.
- ^ "2009 NRL Player Movements". NRL Live. 4 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
- ^ Karl deKroo (March 2009). "Storm captain Cameron Smith says positional switch will prolong career". Australia: Fox Sports. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ "No CookiesHerald Sun". Heraldsun.com.au. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Huddersfield Giants". Giantsrl.com. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Huddersfield Giants forward to retire at end of the season". BBC Sport.
- ^ "Hinchcliffe to return home". melbournestorm.com.au. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ "Ryan Hinchcliffe - Playing Career - RLP". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 7 April 2024.