Rodney Blake
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| Full name | Rodney Blake | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 29 April 1983 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sa'aveki, Tonga[1] | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 132 kg (20 st 11 lb) | ||||||||||||
| School(s) attended | Homebush Boys High | ||||||||||||
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| Position(s) | prop | ||||||||||||
| Current club | Melbourne Rebels | ||||||||||||
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Rodney Blake (born 29 April 1983 in Tonga) is a professional Australian rugby union footballer. He plays prop for the Melbourne Rebels. He previously played for Bayonne in France. He is sometimes referred to as Rodzilla. His father Paul is a former Otago flanker. In June 2006, Blake made his debut for the Wallabies.
Career
Blake moved to Sydney with his family when he was 13. He played for the West Harbour RFC Juniors and was educated at Homebush Boys High School.[2] Blake was a member of the Australian Schools side,[2] and he represented Australia under-21 world cup in Scotland.[citation needed]
He made his Queensland Reds Super Rugby debut against the Otago Highlanders . He was a regular in the Reds' line-up during the 2006 Super 14 season. He was named in John Connolly's Wallaby side, and made his test debut against England at Telstra Stadium, playing the full 80 minutes. In the closing minutes of the match Blake charged over to score the final try of the game which saw Australia win 34 to 3. He was injured in the subsequent victory over England, and thus missed the following match against Ireland. Blake missed the opening matches of the 2006 Tri Nations Series but played for the Wallabies in a Bledisloe Cup match against the All Blacks in Brisbane.
In October 2006, he was named the Reds "Player of the Year" and awarded the Pilecki Medal.[3]
In 2009, after failing to secure a Super 14 contract in Australia, Blake moved to France and spent two seasons in the French Top 14 competition.[citation needed]
In 2010 Blake returned to Australia, joining the Melbourne Rebels in preparation for the Rebels' 2011 Super Rugby season.[4][5] In 2012, his Rebels team mates included props Nic Henderson, Laurie Weeks, the 20-year-old Paul Alo-Emile, and new signings Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor.[6] Rebels coach Damien Hill praised Blake's agility, and decision making abilities in both attack and defence. Hill said, "Rodney's biggest challenge, season in, season out, is to make sure he has the aerobic capacity to perform those skills for long periods of time rather than in small bits."[7]
References
- ↑ "On the Spot – Rodney Blake". rugby.com.au. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Players ... with three or more Caps ... 1973–2009". Australian Schools Rugby. ARFSU. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
- ↑ "Rodzilla named as Reds' best in 2006". ABC. Retrieved 8 October 2006.
- ↑ "Former Wallabies Rodney Blake and Mark Gerrard sign with the Rebels". Foxsports. News Limited. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ "Rebels sign up two former Wallabies". Age. Fairfax. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ↑ Paxinos, Stathi (28 February 2012). "Forward pack to deliver: Weeks". Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
- ↑ Schlink, Leo (17 May 2012). "Rodney Blake the key against Western Force". Herald Sun. News. Retrieved 21 May 2012.