Ben Hampton

Ben Hampton
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Hampton
Born (1992-02-29) 29 February 1992
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Height 179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 89 kg (14 st 0 lb)
Playing information
Position Five-eighth, Centre, Fullback, Hooker

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–16 Melbourne Storm 36 6 0 0 24
2017– North Queensland 48 9 0 0 36
Total 84 15 0 0 60
As of 9 September 2018
Source: [1]

Ben Hampton (born 29 February 1992) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League. Primarily a five-eighth or halfback, Hampton previously played for the Melbourne Storm.

Early life

Born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Hampton grew up in Temora, attending Temora West Public School until year 6 and playing junior rugby league for the Temora Dragons. When his family moved to Mareeba in North Queensland, he attended Mareeba State High School and played his junior football for the Mareeba Gladiators.

In 2008, while playing for the Northern Marlins representative side, Hampton represented the Queensland under-16 rugby league team. A scholarship holder with the Melbourne Storm, Hampton joined their SG Ball Cup side in 2010.[2] Later that year he made his debut for their NYC side and was chosen for the Queensland under-18 rugby league team. In 2012, Hampton was promoted to Melbourne's full-time squad and selected to captain the Queensland under-20 rugby league team in the inaugural U20 State of Origin match.[3] In October 2012, Hampton played fullback for the Junior Kangaroos in their 48-16 win over the Junior Kiwis.

Playing career

2013

Hampton made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm in round 15 against the Titans, where he scored the Storm's two tries, made an impressive try saving tackle on Ashley Harrison and took on the kicking duties after senior playmaker Gareth Widdop was stretchered from the field.[4] He played only one further first-grade match in 2013, mostly playing for Melbourne's feeder teams in the NSW and QLD Cups, the Cronulla Sharks and Easts Tigers.

2014

Due to the departures of Widdop and Brett Finch, Hampton started the season as Melbourne's starting five-eighth, until Round 16 when he was dropped for Ben Roberts. He didn’t play in first grade for the rest of the year. On 30 July, Hampton re-signed with the Storm keeping him with the club to the end of the 2016 season.[5] Hampton finished the year with 11 matches and 2 tries.

2015

Hampton played for the Storm in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[6] He finished off the season with 3 matches and 1 try for the Storm,[7] playing most the year for the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Queensland Cup.

2016

Hampton was again named in the Storm's Nines squad.[8] On 2 October, in the 2016 NRL Grand Final match against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Hampton played off the interchange bench in the Storm’s 14-12 loss.[9][10] Hampton finished the 2016 NRL season with 1 try from 20 matches. On 27 October, the North Queensland Cowboys signed Hampton to a three-year deal, starting in 2017.[11][12]

2017

In February, Hampton was named in the Cowboys Nines squad.[13] In Round 1, Hampton made his club debut for the Cowboys against the Canberra Raiders, where he came off the interchange bench in the 20-16 Golden point extra time win at 1300SMILES Stadium.[14] He scored his first try for the club in the Cowboys' Round 11 loss to the Cronulla Sharks. On 1 October, Hampton started on the interchange in the Cowboys' 2017 NRL Grand Final loss to his former club, the Melbourne Storm. He played 26 games in 2017, the most in his career to date.

2018

Hampton played 22 games for the Cowboys in 2018, starting in all but 8 games. Due to an injury to Lachlan Coote, he began the season as the club's starting fullback, playing the first five games of the year in the position.[15] He moved to centre in Round 6 following Coote's return, playing seven games their before returning to the bench in Round 15.[16] He ended the year as the Cowboys' starting fullback, playing the last two games in the position, scoring four tries.

Statistics

NRL

Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2013 Melbourne 220–08
2014 Melbourne 1120–08
2015 Melbourne 310–04
2016 Melbourne 1910–04
2017 North Queensland 2610–04
2018 North Queensland 2280–032
Career totals 84 15 0 — 0 60

References

  1. ↑ "Ben Hampton - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  2. ↑ http://www.ourfootyteam.com/nswrl_2010_juniorReps_teamLists.php
  3. ↑ "Hampton proud to captain Queensland". M.nrl.com. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  4. ↑ "Titans v Storm". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  5. ↑ Roy Ward (2014-07-30). "Melbourne Storm back Ben Hampton re-signs". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  6. ↑ "STORM UNVEIL 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. 2015-01-23. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  7. ↑ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 2015-11-07. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  8. ↑ "Storm name youthful Nines squad". NRL.com. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  9. ↑ http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/storm/cronulla-have-buried-five-decades-of-misery-to-win-the-2016-nrl-tile/news-story/09fd9f69072e76f6850b656cdf645256
  10. ↑ http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/sharks/nrl-2016-grand-final-melbourne-storm-v-cronulla-sharks-player-ratings/news-story/9b6cbbeee4a9cc83cb51a0368e9389fd
  11. ↑ http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/storm/ben-hampton-wants-melbourne-stint-to-end-on-a-high-note-before-switching-to-north-queensland/news-story/9a124ac61798067a012600d54c7d6545
  12. ↑ http://www.cowboys.com.au/news/2016/10/27/dual_launch_for_2017.html
  13. ↑ http://www.nrl.com/2017-downer-nrl-auckland-nines-squads/tabid/10874/newsid/103308/default.aspx
  14. ↑ http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/live-nrl-north-queensland-cowboys-v-canberra-raiders/news-story/4c08f6df6a67676a45c768d3977190a8
  15. ↑ https://www.qt.com.au/news/hampton-relishing-greater-role/3377205/
  16. ↑ https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/sport/nrl/cowboys/cowboys-utility-ben-hampton-happy-to-be-centre-of-attention/news-story/346bb65be918a32fa50c02501206c38e
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