Blake Ayshford

Blake Ayshford (born 15 April 1988) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a centre in the 2000s and 2010s.

Blake Ayshford
Personal information
Born (1988-04-15) 15 April 1988
Paddington, New South Wales, Australia
Height190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight98 kg (15 st 6 lb)
Playing information
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009–13 Wests Tigers 104 33 0 0 132
2014–15 Cronulla Sharks 20 1 0 0 4
2016–19 New Zealand Warriors 50 13 0 0 52
Total 174 47 0 0 188
As of 21 September 2019
Source: [1][2]

He played for the Wests Tigers, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and New Zealand Warriors in the NRL.

Background

Ayshford played his junior football with the Paddington-Woollahra Tigers and Coogee Randwick Wombats, representing the 2007 Junior Kangaroos & New South Wales at an under 17s and under 19s level. In 2006 he played for Endeavour Sports High School when they won the Arrive Alive Cup.[3]

Blake's uncle, Bruce, played for Easts in 1969.[4] He is of Irish descent[5]

Playing career

Ayshford played in the junior grades with the Sydney Roosters, before signing with the Wests Tigers.

Wests Tigers

Ayshford played for the Tigers' NYC side where, in 2008, he was named the Player's Player of the Year.[6]

He made his first grade debut in Round 11 of the 2009 NRL season, playing against the Brisbane Broncos on 22 May.[7] In June 2009, it was announced that Ayshford had signed a two-year contract to remain with the Tigers until the end of the 2011 season.[8] Later that year he signed an extension to the end of the 2012 season.[9] At the end of the 2009 season, Ayshford was named the Wests Tigers' Rookie of the Year.[10]

Ayshford cemented his position in the centres in 2010. After his form dipped, the threat of being dropped saw an improved performance towards the end of the season.[4] Before the start of the 2011 season, Ricky Stuart named Ayshford in a "Blues in Waiting" squad, for potential future NSW State of Origin players.[11]

Blake Ayshford playing for Balmain

In May 2011, Ayshford committed himself to the Wests Tigers for a further 3 years, keeping him at the club until 2015.[12] He played in every game of the 2011 season, scoring 11 tries, and was named the Wests Tigers Members Player of the Year.[13]

Having "bulked-up" for the 2012 season, Ayshford said, "People say it's hard to adjust to playing with extra weight but I feel stronger and fitter when I'm weighing more. It just gives me a bit of confidence to know that I'm playing over 100 kilos."[14] However, 2012 was a relative disappointment, with Ayshford playing from the bench in some games, and scoring a career-low 4 tries. Ayshford later said, "It was the first year I've been on the bench, first time in my life starting on the bench actually. I let myself down in certain areas."[15]

2013 was another disappointing season for Ayshford, with just two tries and four wins from his sixteen appearances. On 12 July 2013 it was announced that Ayshford would be joining the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks on a two-year contract from 2014.[16]

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

In Round 1 of the 2014 NRL season against the Gold Coast Titans, Ayshford made his club debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at centre in the Sharks 18-12 loss at Remondis Stadium.

New Zealand Warriors

In September 2015 Ayshford signed for the New Zealand Warriors for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.[17]

In June 2017, Ayshford signed a further two-year contract, committing both parties until the end of the 2019 season.[18]

In Round 19 of the 2019 NRL season against Parramatta, Ayshford was famously palmed off by Parramatta player Maika Sivo on his way to the try line. Fox Sports commentator Andrew Voss said of Sivo's fend on Ayshford “If you can get a charge for palming blokes in the sternum, Sivo’s looking at 10 weeks,”. On 2 August 2019, Ayshford announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2019 season.[19][20]

Ayshford's final game as a player came against Canberra at Canberra Stadium in round 25 of the 2019 NRL season which New Zealand won 24-20.[21]

Footnotes
  1. League Central dailytelegraph.com.au
  2. Blake Ayshford rugbyleagueproject.org
  3. "Endeavour Retains Arrive Alive Cup". www.nswrl.net. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  4. Glenn Jackson (3 September 2010). "After catching Sheens' eye, young Ayshford is now kept on his toes". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  5. "Luke Keary in line for World Cup gig with Ireland". Yahoo. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  6. "Tigers re-sign Ayshford". SportsAustralia.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  7. James Phelps (22 May 2009). "Brisbane Broncos beat Wests Tigers". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
  8. "Tigers secure Blake Ayshford". Daily Telegraph. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  9. "Tigers sign extended deals for trio". Daily Telegraph (Sydney). 19 November 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  10. Wayne Cousins. "ELLIS NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  11. "Stuart names 'Blues in waiting'". ABC News. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  12. Mute. "Ayshford commits future to Tigers". zerotackle.com.au. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  13. "Gareth Ellis is Wests Tigers Player of the Year". Ozzie News. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  14. Joe Barton (8 December 2011). "Bulked-up Wests Tigers centre Blake Ayshford rules out switch to forwards". Herald Sun. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  15. Scott Dougherty (5 March 2013). "Ayshford wants No.3 jersey back". Campbelltown Macarthur Advertiser. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  16. "SHARKS SIGN AYSHFORD ON TWO-YEAR DEAL". Zero Tackle. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  17. "Warriors sign Sharks centre". New Zealand Herald. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  18. Media, NRL Digital. "[Signings] New deals for six". Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  19. "Semi who? 'Superhuman' Eels winger Maika Sivo monsters Warrior Blake Ayshford". Fox Sports.
  20. "New Zealand Warriors journeyman Blake Ayshford to retire at end of 2019 season". Sporting News.
  21. "New Zealand Warriors beat Canberra Raiders in final NRL game for 2019". NZ Herald.
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