Blake Ferguson

Blake Ferguson
Personal information
Nickname Fergo
Born (1990-03-20) 20 March 1990
Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia
Height 192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 103 kg (16 st 3 lb)
Playing information
Position centre, wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009–10 Cronulla Sharks 42 16 0 0 64
2011–13 Canberra Raiders 60 36 14 0 172
2015– Sydney Roosters 19 10 0 0 40
Total 121 62 14 0 276
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010–13 Indigenous All Stars 2 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Prime Minister's XIII 2 2 0 0 8
2012 NSW Country 1 2 0 0 8
2013 New South Wales 1 0 0 0 0
As of 28 August 2015
Source: Rugby League Project

Blake Ferguson (born 20 March 1990) is a rugby league player and Australian amateur boxer. He is currently signed to the Sydney Roosters and formerly played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Canberra Raiders of the NRL. He made his professional boxing debut on 27 November 2013 in a fight against Luke Turner.[1]

Ferguson is a nephew of Solomon Haumono[2] and a cousin of Anthony Mundine who is a boxer and a former rugby league player for St George Illawarra Dragons[3] He is also eligible for the Indigenous All Stars, by account of his indigenous heritage.[4]

Ferguson is managed by Sam Ayoub and was previously managed by his uncle Solomon Haumono.[5][6]

Career

In 2009, while playing for the Sharks, Ferguson was just beaten by Jamal Idris as the rookie of the year at the 2009 Dally M Awards.[7]

In 2010, he was called up to play for the Indigenous All-Stars replacing the injured Justin Hodges.[8] In that match he famously ran down Israel Folau.[9]

Following a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave the Sharks if coach Ricky Stuart left, Ferguson also left the club at the end of 2010.[10] He signed a 2-year deal to play with the Canberra Raiders starting from 2011.[11] He was the Raiders top try-scorer for the season.

In 2012, Ferguson had one of his best seasons on the field, representing the Country New South Wales rugby league team and making the Australia national rugby league team train-on squad.[12]

In 2013, Ferguson made his debut for the New South Wales rugby league team in Game I of the 2013 State of Origin series.[13] He had previously been approached by Queensland rugby league team coach Mal Meninga to play for Queensland.[14] Following his debut Origin game Ferguson's league career took a highly publicized downward spiral following an indecent assault charge.[15]

In May 2014, Ferguson signed with the Sydney Roosters, who beat out South Sydney Rabbitohs for his services.[16] In late June 2014, following Ferguson's guilt over his 2013 indecent assault charge, the NRL rejected an application for him to join the Sydney Roosters for the remainder of the 2014 NRL season, meaning he had to wait until the 2015 season to play for his new club.[17] As part of his rehabilitation, Ferguson completed a rugby league refereeing course.[18] He is widely seen as the man to replace Sonny Bill Williams, who departed after the 2014 season.[19]

For the 2015 NRL season Ferguson's healthy form has led to Wendell Sailor considering him "the second best buy of the season".[20]

Controversy

Blake has been disciplined for several incidents of off-field behaviour. At a music festival in November 2012 he was escorted by security staff out of a VIP area after reports that he had been spitting on patrons. The Raiders refused to answer specific questions about the incident but stated that "We are aware of the incident and Blake has been disciplined internally." On 17 June, Ferguson was apprehended and charged by police for an alleged Indecent Assault at the Sutherland Shire nightclub 2230.[21][22]

On Friday 6 September 2013 the Canberra Raiders sacked Ferguson.[23]

On 11 December 2013, Ferguson was found guilty of indecently assaulting a woman at a nightspot in Cronulla on 16 June 2013. Ferguson had pleaded not guilty arguing that he had mistaken the woman for a woman he was going to meet.[24]

Conversion to Islam

He converted to Islam on 8 November 2013 after taking his shahada with cousin Anthony Mundine, who has been a Muslim for many years.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "Blake Ferguson". BoxRec. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/cronulla-winger-blake-ferguson-scores-try-of-the-season/story-e6frfgfo-1225740035549
  3. ↑ "Mundine, Raiders in Ferguson's corner". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  4. ↑ "Official Site of the NRMA Insurance Broncos | BRONCOS 2012 SEASON MEMBERSHIP ON SALE NOW!". Broncos.com.au. 2012-01-07. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  5. ↑ Jamie Pandaram (3 July 2010). "Ferguson following Stuart out of Sharks". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Josh Massoud (24 September 2013). "Sydney Roosters chat to exiled NRL star Blake Ferguson after chance encounter at Allianz Stadium". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Jamie Pandaram (3 July 2010). "Ferguson following Stuart out of Sharks". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  8. ↑ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/ferguson-called-up-for-indigenous-all-stars/story-e6frexnr-1225821605282
  9. ↑ Jamie Pandaram (3 July 2010). "Ferguson following Stuart out of Sharks". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Jamie Pandaram (3 July 2010). "Ferguson following Stuart out of Sharks". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  11. ↑ James Hooper (27 August 2010). "Blake Ferguson signs two-year deal with Canberra Raiders". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  12. ↑ Chris Wilson (5 December 2012). "Raiders punish 'spitting' Ferguson". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  13. ↑ NICK WALSHAW (6 June 2013). "Canberra flyer Blake Ferguson impressive in Origin debut". THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  14. ↑ TYSON OTTO (28 May 2013). "NSW State of Origin debutant Blake Ferguson reveals Queensland coach Mal Meninga approached him to play for Maroons". THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  15. ↑ "NSW State of Origin winger Blake Ferguson formally charged with indecent assault". ABC. 18 Jun 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  16. ↑ Adrian Proszenko (21 May 2014). "Blake Ferguson signs with Sydney Roosters but NRL won't allow return until 2015". Fairfax Media. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  17. ↑ "Blake Ferguson's application to play for Sydney Roosters rejected by NRL". ABC. 30 Jun 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  18. ↑ Ben Horne (8 July 2014). "Ferguson completes referees course". AAP. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  19. ↑ DAVID RICCIO. "Danny Wicks will play his first game for an NRL club in five years on Friday night". THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  20. ↑ Wendell Sailor (24 July 2015). "Wendell Sailor sorts out the contenders and pretenders". news.com.au. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  21. ↑ Chris Wilson (2012-12-05). "Raiders punish 'spitting' Ferguson". Canberratimes.com.au. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  22. ↑ "Ferguson's NRL career hangs in the balance". Wwos.ninemsn.com.au. 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  23. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald 06/09/2013. Retrieved 2013-09-06
  24. ↑ http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/20264509/nrls-ferguson-guilty-of-groping-woman/
  25. ↑ Glenn Jackson (9 November 2013). "Blake Ferguson turns to Islam en route to redemption". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 February 2015.

External links

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