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| Born | (1977-12-28)28 December 1977 (age 47) Penrith, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 97 kg (15 st 4 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre, Wing, Fullback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shane Elford (born 28 December 1977), is an Australian former professionalrugby league footballer who played as awinger andcentre in the 1990s and 2000s.
He played in theNational Rugby League forSydney clubs,Penrith andWests Tigers (with whom he won the 2005 Premiership), mostly atcentre. Elford also played in theSuper League for English club theHuddersfield Giants.
Elford was born inPenrith, New South Wales and would go on to play for Penrith's NRL team. His junior club was St Marys and he made his first grade debut in round 21, for Penrith against Canberra atCanberra Stadium on 2 August 1998. He missed Penrith's2003 NRL grand final-winning team.
Joining Wests Tigers from 2004, Elford was a member of the2005 NRL Grand Final-winning team, playing at centre in their 30–16 win over theNorth Queensland Cowboys. Despite an announcement that Elford would be joining theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs from 2006,[2] he remained with the club for another year.
Following injuries toBenji Marshall andPaul Whatuira during the 2006 season, Elford was trialled at five-eighth during rounds 21 to 26. His first assignment was handlingBrisbane Broncos captainDarren Lockyer. The Tigers won that match 20–6 and were the third-last club to beat the eventual premiers before the finals. This was seen as a massive upset as the Tigers were without Marshall, Whatuira and captainBrett Hodgson for the remainder of the 2006 season, and the Broncos were at full strength.[3]
At the end of 2006, Elford signed a three-year contract with English club Huddersfield, saying he was influenced by the signing of former team-mateJohn Skandalis and the recommendation ofBrad Drew.[4]
Elford signed a one-year deal with his former club Penrith after being released by Huddersfield in 2008.[5] Elford said, "When I left the Tigers I never thought I'd come back to the NRL but once the offer from the Panthers came up, it was too good an opportunity to pass up."[6]
In 2010, Elford scored four tries from his five appearances. In his lastNRL game, Elford captained the Penrith team from the wing in the absence ofState of Origin playersPetero Civoniceva,Trent Waterhouse andLuke Lewis. A serious knee injury saw him play no further games.[7]
After his retirement, Elford was employed by Penrith as a full-time Welfare Education Officer, helping young players adjust when they relocated after joining the club.[8]
During the 2025 round 10 match where the Panthers went into Golden Point against the Cowboys, Elford was spotted wetting the ball with a drink bottle.[9]
