Joey Grima

Joseph "Joey" Grima (birth unknown) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach, most recently head coach of the London Broncos.

Joey Grima
Personal information
Full nameJoseph Grima
Playing information
PositionHooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
Parramatta Eels
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2014–15 London Broncos 19 2 0 17 11
Representative
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2004–06 Malta 9 6 0 3 67
Source: [1]

Playing career

Grima spent 19 years at the Parramatta Eels as a player and later as part of the coaching set up.

John Player Special/Regal Trophy Final appearances

Joe Grima played right-prop, i.e. number 10, in Widnes' 6-12 defeat by Wigan in the 1988–89 Regal Trophy|John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1988–89 season at Burnden Park, Bolton on Saturday 7 January 1989,[2] and was an interchange/substitute, i.e. number 15, in the 24-0 victory over Leeds in the 1991–92 Regal Trophy Final during the 1991–92 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 11 January 1992.

Managerial career

Grima has extensive experience in the NRL as an assistant coach at Parramatta Eels, Cronulla Sharks and the St George-Illawarra Dragons.

He was appointed as the assistant coach at the capital Super League club, London Broncos ahead of the 2014 season after being recommended by Jamie Soward to former head coach Tony Rea.

On 14 May he was appointed as head coach of the English capital side and signed a deal until the end of 2015.[3] His first game in charge, London lost to Huddersfield Giants 16-30 at The Hive Stadium on 10 May [4] and at the Magic Weekend on 17 May they narrowly lost to Catalans Dragons 22-24 at the Etihad Stadium.[5] His first 2 games in charge were the two best performances by the Broncos in 2014.

On 13 July 2014, Grima's London Broncos were relegated to the Kingstone Press Championship. Grima started to rebuild all aspects of the club signing/resigning 17 players to date from the academy, current players and players in key positions such as Richard Mathers, William Barthau, Nick Slyney, Josh Cordoba and Rhys Williams in preparation for life in the 2nd tier for the 1st time in 20 years.

After 12 consecutive defeats for Grima in charge of the Broncos, he won his first game against Super League giants Leeds Rhinos 40-36 at The Hive.

On 9 October 2014, London Broncos announced Grima had signed a 2-year contract extension to keep him as head coach until the end of 2016.[6] He won his second game as Broncos head coach 26-22 against Doncaster in the Broncos' first game in the Championship.

On 2 March 2015, a day after a 12-25 defeat away to Leigh Centurions, Grima announced he was to step down as Broncos coach with immediate effect due to family reasons, moving home to Australia.

International Management

Between 2004 and 2006, Grima was the head coach of Malta after founding the MRL (Malta Rugby League).

Statistics
As of 22 June 2014
Team From To Record
G W D L PF PA PD Win %
Malta 2004 2008 9 6 0 3 0 0 +0 066.67
London Broncos 5 May 2014[7] 2 March 2015 19 2 0 17 334 837 −503 010.53

References
  1. Rugby League Project
  2. "7th January 1989: Wigan 12 Widnes 6 (John Player Trophy Final)". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  3. http://www.loverugbyleague.com/news_14948-tony-rea-leaves-london-broncos.html
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. http://www.londonbroncosrl.com/news/5473.php#.VDg47RlwbqA
  7. http://www.londonbroncosrl.com/news/5264.php#.U3KpbJUU_IU
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