French, an Indigenous Australian, was born and raised in Tingha, New South Wales. He was a youth rugby league player for the Tingha Tigers RLFC. He is the nephew of Nathan Blacklock, the winger for Hull FC, St George Illawarra Dragons, and a former Australian international.
Known for his ability to finish, French played for the Parramatta Eels for 47 games after making his debut in May 2016 and scored 35 tries in total. In 2017, the Australian back was a member of the Indigenous All Stars. He was released by Parramatta midway through the 2019 season, and he signed with Wigan. French made his Wigan debut in the 36-18 victory over Hull KR at the DW Stadium by coming off the bench.
on August 9th, and a week later, in the Club’s victory over Warrington Wolves, he scored a try on his maiden start. In 2019, he played eight games and scored six tries for the Warriors. In 2020, French surpassed all other try scorers at Wigan with 17 touchdowns in 21 games across all competitions. He was also selected, along with fellow Warrior Liam Farrell, for the 2020 Betfred Super League Dream Team at full back.
French had an incredible 2020 season and was named Players’ Player of the Year and Player of the Year in the Club’s End of Season Awards. The Australian helped Wigan win silverware in 2020 by winning the League Leaders’ Shield after defeating Huddersfield Giants in the final regular season round.
In addition, he received the 2020 Player of the Year award from the Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters Association and made the Steve Prescott Man of Steel shortlist. After suffering a hamstring injury in May 2021 that ended his season, French went back to Australia to finish his recovery. He then exercised his one-year option to return to the Warriors for preseason play in front of the 2022 campaign.
French made history in the Super League when he scored seven tries in a single game against Hull FC in July 2022. He was also named to the Super League Dream Team for the second time in his career due to his outstanding play in the 2022 season. With 31 tries for the year, the outside back was named the 2022 Super League’s Top Try Scorer at the awards ceremony.
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