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This page features information on Warrington Wolves
rugby league club.
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Congratulations to Warrington Wolves on their 25-16 victory over Huddersfield Giants in the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley on Saturday 29 August 2009. An estimated 50,000 fans welcomed them home. |
Note: some of this material is from Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia. Please see the foot of the Feedback page for important copyright information
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Warrington
Wolves are
the professional rugby league team in the town. In the past the club
has
been nicknamed "Wire", in reference to the strength of the
wire-weaving industry in Warrington. They previously
played at the traditional ground of Wilderspool, which still exists,
but have since moved to a state-of-the-art
Halliwell Jones Stadium off Winwick Road. Warrington are currently in
the top flight of rugby league, the Super League. To date, they have
never won the Super League trophy, though they have won many major
trophies in their past. |
|
logo used with permission |
Warrington Zingari was founded in 1879 by Timothy Grix of Chatburn. The committee of the newly formed club managed to get the use of a field fronting Sankey Street. The headquarters of the club were at the White Hart Hotel in Sankey Street.
The first match was an away game against the Walton side, played at Rice Field in Liverpool on 18 October, 1879. Walton won by three goals to nil. The first home game at Sankey Street was against Oughtrington, with Warrington gaining their first victory by three goals to one. In their first season Warrington played 11 games, won 7, lost 2 and drew 2. A year later, The Warrington Guardian newspaper purchased the land in Sankey Street for its new offices, and the club was forced to move to a new pitch at Wilderspool.
Another local club, Padgate Excelsior, amalgamated with Warrington in 1881-1882 to form a representative town side. After one season at Wilderspool, the club obtained another field at Slutchers Lane. A year later, Warrington moved back to Sankey Street to play in a field behind the town's post office. In 1883-1884, they moved for the fourth time, this time back to Wilderspool, the new pitch being just a short distance from the previous ground.
In 1884-1885, Warrington were strengthened again when the Warrington Wanderers club, joined the town side. In 1886, the club won its first silverware, the South West Lancashire and Border Towns Trophy.
The early post-WW2 years saw a boom in rugby league in general, and the glory years of the Warrington club. Brian Bevan, winger, made his debut for Warrington in 1945. Over the next 16 seasons he scored 740 tries for the club in 620 games. With other stars such as Harry Bath and Gerry Helme, the Wire won all the code's major honours, including the League Championship in 1947/8, 1953/4 and 1954/5. Warrington reached the 1948/49 Lancashire Cup Final but were beaten by Wigan. In the league Warrington lost only five matches all season.
Another good cup run took the Wire to the 1950 Challenge Cup Final. This time they were to play local rivals Widnes, beating them 19-nil.
In 1951/52 Ces Mountford was appointed as coach with a ten-year contract.
In 1954, a record 102,569 paid to see Warrington defeat Halifax 8-4 in the Challenge Cup Final replay at Odsal, Bradford, but thousands more got in for free.
The 1955/56 season saw a tournament entitled the ITV Floodlit Competition. Eight clubs participated in a series of games played at football grounds in the London area, with Warrington eventually beating Leigh 43-18 at Loftus Road.
On 19 January, 1957, Warrington launched a lottery, which played an important part in the club's finances in future seasons.
In the 1959/60 season, they won the Lancashire Cup for the first time in 22 years, playing all their games away from home. St. Helens were the final hurdle but the Wire managed a 5-4 win at Central Park.
In 1961, Warrington reached the final of the RL Championship held at Odsal, but Leeds had total control over the match and won 25-10. This also turned out to be the last match for long-serving coach Ces Mountford.
Ernest "Ernie" Ashcroft took over as coach for the 1961/62 season. Easter Monday 1962 saw Brian Bevan's last match for Warrington.
During the early part of the 1965/66 season, floodlights were installed and a friendly match against Wigan was arranged. They were officially switched on for the match on Tuesday 28 September, with Wigan winning the match. Warrington's home game against Widnes became the first rugby league match to be broadcast on BBC, albeit only to the south of England. Warrington beat Oldham 21-10 in the Lancashire Cup Semi-final, and went on to beat Rochdale Hornets at Knowsley Road 16-5.
After a disastrous start to the 1970/71 season, coach Joe Egan decided to stand down, to be replaced by Peter Harvey. Alex Murphy joined Warrington as player-coach on 20 May, 1971. In January, 1974, the club beat Featherstone Rovers 4-0 at Salford in a new one-off competition, the Captain Morgan Trophy. In that season also, they won The Locker Cup (14-9 victory over Wigan) and the Players No. 6 Trophy (beating Rochdale Hornets 27-16 at Wigan). They were beaten in the first round of the BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy. Later in 1974, Murphy captained them to a 24-9 win in the Challenge Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers before retiring as a player. As coach in 1975, he took Warrington to the Challenge Cup Final again, but were defeated 14-7 by Widnes.
Poor league performance continued in 1977/78, but Warrington again made it to the Regal Trophy Final. Warrington beat Widnes 9-4. In 1978, Warrington appointed Billy Benyon as Alex Murphy's successor. A solid year round performance saw Warrington finish second in the league, losing only 8 matches all year.
The 1980/81 season brought the Lancashire Cup and the John Player Trophy. After consistently good performances in the league they were League Championship runners-up.
In 1990 Warrington made it to the final of the Challenge Cup at Wembley Stadium and faced arch rivals Wigan. Warrington lost 34-16.
Warrington won the Regal Trophy in 1992 beating Bradford Northern 12-2 at Headingley, Leeds. Warrington did make it to the final of the Regal Trophy in 1994, but lost 40-10 to Wigan at McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield.
With the advent of Super League, several mergers between clubs were proposed. Warrington were scheduled to merge with Widnes to form Cheshire who would compete in Super League. This was, however, resisted. Warrington were awarded a place in the Super League.
Plans to move from Wilderspool Stadium were announced, with Burtonwood the likely site. The former Tetley Walker brewery on Winwick Road was chosen to be the new home for the club, and Tesco were to develop on the land with a superstore. A lengthy planning process finally ended with the Secretary of State giving the green light for the 14,206 capacity stadium and supermarket to be built.
Paul Cullen was appointed head coach in 2002, replacing David Plange.
In January 2003, at the Past Players Association Annual Dinner, the Warrington Hall of Fame was launched. The first twelve players inducted were:
| Jackie Fish 1898-1911 | Billy Dingsdale 1928-1940 | Harold Palin 1936, 1947-1951 | Brian Bevan 1945-1962 |
| Jack Miller 1926-1946 | Bill Shankland 1931-1938 | Albert Johnson 1939-1951 | Eric Fraser 1951-1964 |
| Tommy Thompson 1927-1934 | Jack Arkwright (Snr) 1934-1945 | Gerry Helme 1945-1957 | Jim Challinor 1952-1963 |
Read profiles of the players at the official Warrington Wolves website.
Warrington's first season in the Halliwell Jones Stadium (2004) saw slight underachievement on the pitch, reflected in their finishing position of eighth in Super League, though they did make the semi finals of the Challenge Cup. However, they recorded a significant increase in their average attendances and midway through the season the club was purchased by events promoter Simon Moran. Moran immediately released fresh investment into the club, enabling coach Paul Cullen to sign Great Britain centre Martin Gleeson for a club record fee for a reported £200,000. The club also purchased New Zealand internationals, Henry Fa'afili and Logan Swann.
Their best season in Super League has been Super League X (2005), where they finished in 4th place and earned a home tie in the playoffs. They are one of only a handful of clubs never to have been relegated from the top flight of rugby league throughout their long history.
Australian half-back Andrew 'Joey' Johns played 3 games for the club in 2005 when his Australian club Newcastle concluded their season. He wore the number 31 (the club was refused permission for Johns to wear 77) and is rumoured to have been paid around £40,000 per match for the Wolves. The signing caused controversy for a couple of reasons. If the Wolves had made the Super League Grand Final, it would have clashed with the Kangaroos Tri-Nations test against New Zealand in Sydney.
Also, many people questioned why the Wolves were allowed to bring in a player in time for the Super League play-offs after he had finished playing a full season in Australia. The signing and subsequent confusion over the rules led other Super League clubs to follow the example set by the Wolves by signed their own Antipodean players on short-term contracts.
On 22 September, 2006, the Wolves beat Leeds 18-17 at Headingley to progress to the second round of the play-offs, but failed to get any further. Warrington Wolves finished in 6th place in 2006. They were named as Club of the Year at a ceremony held in Manchester.
Adrian Morley joined the club in 2007 and the Wolves finished the season in 7th place. For 2008, the club signed Chris Hicks and Matt King. On 27 May, 2008, coach Paul Cullen left the club by The Wolves finished in 6th place in 2008 and were knocked out of the play-offs by Catalans Dragons, having been in 4th spot earlier in the season.
For the 2009 season, new signings included Garreth Carvell from Hull FC and Micky Higham from Wigan Warriors. Martin Gleeson departed the club for Wigan Warriors. As part of that deal, Richie Mathers returned to the Wolves following a short loan deal back in 2002. Stuart Reardon also left the club. On 5 March, 2009, following a 3-match series of defeats at the start of Super League XIV, leaving them bottom of the table, Warrington Wolves announced the appointment of Great Britain rugby league coach Tony Smith, as Head of Coaching. He has signed a two-and-a-half year contract heading the Wolves Coaching and Performance team. He will work alongside James Lowes, who takes on the role of First Team Coach. They have worked together in the past on the Great Britain team and it is hoped they can bring the club to future success. Smith will continue in his role as England Head Coach, but has stepped down as the RFL's technical director. Read his profile here.
The first score for the Giants did come from a Shaun Lunt try, after 9 minutes, with a goal from Brett Hodgson taking the score to 6-6. Next to score for Warrington was Michael Monaghan after 12 minutes, with Bridge converting for a 12-6 lead, followed by a try from Chris Hicks on 15 minutes, and Bridge's 3rd successful goal kick to make it 18-6 to Warrington. A try by Matt King was ruled out on 18 minutes after the video referee said it was a ball steal with two players in the tackle, and Huddersfield were also denied a try after 23 minutes, one of two tries disallowed for them. On 37 minutes Brett Hodgson scored a try for Huddersfield (the conversion was missed), making the half-time score 18-10 to the Wolves.
The score did not change again until the 60th minute when Vinnie Anderson scored under the sticks, with Bridge's 4th conversion taking the score to 24-10. Five minutes later Warrington were awarded a penalty within kicking distance of the goal for a high tackle, but Bridge was unable to convert on this occasion. Warrington were defending well, and with a knock-on and an offside by Huddersfield in the 68th and 71st minutes respectively, it looked all over for the Giants. A try from David Hodgson in the 77th minute (converted by Brett Hodgson) closed the gap to 8 points, making the score 24-16 to the Wolves. A familiar drop-goal from Lee Briers in the next minute sealed the victory for Warrington Wolves. The final score was 25-16.
Michael Monaghan became the third Australian to win the Lance Todd Trophy for Man of the Match. It was the first Challenge Cup victory for coach Tony Smith. Wolves captain Adrian Morley said the victory was the highlight of his hugely successful career. The victory ends a 35 year wait for fans and players alike. You have to go back to 1974 for Warrington's last win, when they beat Featherstone Rovers 24-9 under captain Alex Murphy, who was in the crowd at this year's final. In all, 78 coaches and two trains took Warrington fans to Wembley on the day, with many more booking into hotels and guest houses to make a bank holiday weekend of it in the capital city.
Huddersfield Giants had knocked out St Helens in a thrilling match at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on 9 August to gain their place in the final. Huddersfield's last victory in the Challenge Cup was in 1953, when they beat St Helens 15-10. The last time Warrington appeared at Wembley was 1990 when they were beaten by Wigan. Earlier in this year's competition on 30 May, Warington beat Hull 25-24 in their quarter-final match after a thrilling drop-goal Golden Point in extra time by Lee Briers. They were drawn against Wigan Warriors in the semi-final at Widnes on 8 August, beating them 39 points to 26, leading 28-8 at half-time.
Warrington finished outside the Top Eight in Super League 2009, missing out on the play-offs.
Major honours |
Some famous players |
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Year |
Winners |
Score |
Runner-up |
Venue |
Attendance |
|
1900-01 |
Batley |
6 - 0 |
Warrington |
Leeds |
29,563 |
|
1903-04 |
Halifax |
8 - 3 |
Warrington |
Salford |
17,041 |
|
1904-05 |
Warrington |
6 - 0 |
Hull Kingston Rovers |
Leeds |
19,638 |
|
1906-07 |
Warrington |
17 - 3 |
Oldham |
Broughton |
18,500 |
|
1912-13 |
Huddersfield |
9 - 5 |
Warrington |
Leeds |
22,754 |
|
1927-28 |
Swinton |
5 - 3 |
Warrington |
Wigan |
33,909 |
|
1932-33 |
Huddersfield |
21 - 17 |
Warrington |
Wembley |
41,874 |
|
1935-36 |
Leeds |
18 - 2 |
Warrington |
Wembley |
51,250 |
|
1949-50 |
Warrington |
19 - 0 |
Widnes |
Wembley |
94,249 |
|
1953-54 |
Warrington |
4 - 4 |
Halifax |
Wembley |
81,841 |
|
(replay) |
18 - 4 |
Halifax |
Bradford |
102,569 |
|
|
1973-74 |
Warrington |
24 -9 |
Featherstone Rovers |
Wembley |
77,400 |
|
1974-75 |
Widnes |
14 - 7 |
Warrington |
Wembley |
85,098 |
|
1989-90 |
Wigan |
36 - 14 |
Warrington |
Wembley |
77,729 |
| 2009 | Warrington Wolves | 25
- 14 |
Huddersfield Giants | Wembley | 76,560 |
| Year | Grand Final winner |
Runner up |
League leader |
| 1996 | n/a | n/a | St Helens |
| 1997 | n/a | n/a | Bradford Bulls |
| 1998 | Wigan Warriors | Leeds Rhinos | Wigan Warriors |
| 1999 | St Helens | Bradford Bulls | Bradford Bulls |
| 2000 | St Helens | Wigan Warriors | Wigan Warriors |
| 2001 | Bradford Bulls | Wigan Warriors | Bradford Bulls |
| 2002 | St Helens | Bradford Bulls | St Helens |
| 2003 | Bradford Bulls | Wigan Warriors | Bradford Bulls |
| 2004 | Leeds Rhinos | Bradford Bulls | Leeds Rhinos |
| 2005 | Bradford Bulls | Leeds Rhinos | St Helens |
| 2006 | St Helens | Hull | St Helens |
| 2007 | Leeds Rhinos | St Helens | St Helens |
| 2008 | Leeds Rhinos | St Helens | St Helens |
| 2009 | Leeds Rhinos | St Helens | Leeds Rhinos |
It was scheduled for demolition when the club moved out in 2003, but the council kept it open, and Warrington Woolston Rovers and Warrington Wizards now play their home games there.
| Halliwell Jones Stadium is the Wolves state-of-the-art purpose-built stadium, which opened for the 2004 season. It has a capacity of 14,206, seating and standing, and has also staged major fixtures such as the Challenge Cup semi-final and the 2004 European Nations Final. |
It was also a venue for women's
Euro 2005 in football.
The stadium was notable for bucking the common trend of modern stadia by including standing areas rather than being an all-seater stadium. It has pitch dimensions of 120 metres x 74 metres.
After
Warrington's success in the 2005 Super League, plans are already under way to
extend the new stadium. Details of the plans include new executive seating above
the "South Stand" and more seating arrangements.
The remaining photos show the building sequence in 2003.
Additional information will be added to some of the player profiles in time. If you wish to submit more about their Warrington careers, please use the Feedback link. For the current squad, and more profiles, link to the official Wolves website.
Tony Smith (born 24 January, 1967, in Lismore, New South Wales) is a British-Australian former rugby league player and is now the head coach of the Great Britain national rugby league team. He is the younger brother of fellow rugby league coach, Brian Smith. In 2007, Smith was included in the Southstander.com Hall of Fame.
| He played rugby league with the Illawarra Steelers, for whom he made 37 appearances, and scored 9 tries and played 28 games for St. George Dragons including the 1992 Grand Final. Tony finished his playing career in 1996 with a spell at Workington in Super League. | |
| He was appointed by Leeds Rhinos in a surprise move in November 2003. He guided Leeds to their first Championship in 32 years in 2004. The Rhinos went on to beat the Canterbury Bulldogs in the 2005 World Club Challenge at Elland Road. | |
| Later that year they suffered an unexpected defeat to Hull FC in the Challenge Cup Final and were edged out by the Bradford Bulls in the 2005 Grand Final. Smith extended his contract to the end of the 2006 season. The Rhinos failed to win a trophy in the 2006 season. | |
| On the 13 October, 2007, Leeds Rhinos beat St. Helens 33-6 to become Super League champions, giving Tony Smith the perfect send off. | |
| Smith became the successor to Brian Noble as full-time coach of Great Britain. His first game in charge of Great Britain was the victory over France. | |
| Smith became a naturalized British citizen on 8 September, 2008 at a ceremony in Huddersfield. | |
| He joined Warrington Wolves as Head of Coaching and Rugby on 5 March, 2009, on a 2½ year contract. | |
| He took the club to Wembley on 29 August, 2009 to win his first Challenge Cup victory as a coach. |
Paul Cullen was a former player and coach of Warrington Wolves from 2002 to 2008. Cullen had played 348 times for the Wolves, and after spending time with Whitehaven, took over as coach in August 2002. His 5½ year reign made him the longest-serving coach in Super League at the time.
In 2006 he was appointed the Head Coach of England ahead of the Federation Shield tournament in the autumn.
On 27 May, 2008, it was announced he had parted company with Warrington Wolves by 'mutual consent' after a humiliating defeat by bottom of the table Castleford Tigers the day before, their first away-win of the season, and Wolves 6th loss in 7 Super League games. Fans staged a sit-in protest after the Castleford game. The club failed to win any silverware during Cullen's reign, even though they had some high-profile signings. His place was taken by Assistant Coach, James Lowes, until a permanent replacement could be found.
On Monday 9 March, 2009, Cullen took over as new Head Coach at Widnes Vikings on a two year contract.
| Brian Eyrl Bevan
was born in 1924 in Bondi, Sydney, Australia, and died 1991 in Southport,
Merseyside. He is a legendary player who scored a world record 796 tries
for Warrington. He was a frail, gaunt ex-Australian
serviceman when he turned up for a trial at Warrington in 1945. He was
not expected to make much of an impact but he went on to enjoy a
remarkable 16 years with the club.
Brian
Bevan began his career playing for Eastern Suburbs in 1942, just as his father
had in the past, although he never actually played a first-grade game in his
first year.
|
| When World War II began, Brian Bevan decided to join the Navy. He arrived in England on board HMAS Australia in 1946. | |
| Warrington decided to give him an 'A' team trial in November in which he scored a try. The club were impressed with his first performance and decided to play him in the first team a week later. | |
| The club then decided to sign him on a permanent basis on a £300 contract. He went home for several months to discharge from military service. | |
| In 1946-47, his first season, he scored 48 tries for the club, which was 14 tries more than any other player in the league. | |
| Within four years at the club he had surpassed the club try-scoring record of 215 set by Jack Fish over thirteen seasons. | |
| His best season for try-scoring feats was in 1952-53 when he amassed a total of 72 tries. | |
| During his sixteen year career with Warrington he helped the club win the Challenge Cup twice, three championships, a Lancashire Cup and six Lancashire League titles. | |
| Twice he scored seven tries in a single game for Warrington, which is still a club record. | |
| He played his last game for Warrington on Easter Monday, 1962. | |
| He came out of semi-retirement to play for Blackpool Borough between 1962-64. | |
| In 1961 he returned to Australia to play in an Eastern Suburbs seven-a-side competition for Keith Holman's testimonial. | |
| The 'wing wizard', as he is commonly referred, died in Southport, Merseyside in 1991, aged 66. | |
| Thousands turned up for his memorial service a month later, which was held on the pitch at Wilderspool Stadium. | |
| In 1988, Brian Bevan was inducted in to the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. In September, 2005 he was also inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame. | |
| A statue of him was erected in the middle of a roundabout close to Warrington's old Wilderspool ground. It now stands outside the Halliwell Jones Stadium. |
Harry Bath (born 1924) was an Australian player. His position of choice was as a second-row forward. He is commonly said to be the best Australian rugby league player never to be picked for Australia.
| Nicknamed 'the old fox'. | |
| Represented both Queensland and New South Wales before he turned twenty-one. | |
| In England, he played at Barrow for six months before signing for Warrington. | |
| He spent a total of nine seasons at Warrington, playing in over 500 games for the club. | |
| His major highlight for Warrington was when he captained the club to victory in the replay of the 1954 Challenge Cup in front of a massive record crowd 102,569 people. | |
| He scored over 700 goals in his career, including 173 goals in the 1952-53 season. | |
| He returned to Australia in 1957 and started playing for St George Dragons. | |
| In 1961 he joined the inaugural NSWRL coaching panel. | |
| His greatest achievements while coaching the national side was leading the Kangaroos to World Cup glory in the 1968 Rugby League World Cup and 1970 Rugby League World Cup. | |
| He retired from Rugby League coaching in 1981. Harry moved back to Sydney, Australia with his wife Gwen. | |
| Harry died in his native Australia on Saturday, 4 October 2008, aged 83. |
Gerry Helme (born 1923, died 19 December, 1981) played for Warrington and also represented Lancashire and Great Britain. Helme became the first player to win the Lance Todd Trophy twice, his second coming in the famous 1954 Challenge Cup Final replay. He also helped Great Britain to victory by scoring the match-winning try in the first-ever World Cup Final in 1954.
After retiring Helme had coaching roles with Leigh and Oldham.Alex Murphy (born St Helens, Lancashire, 22 April, 1939). He was a player and coach who enjoyed a prodigious career as a scrum-half, often as controversial as he was prolific. One scribe suggested “You either like him or loathe him but you certainly can’t ignore him!”
| Murphy’s playing career was spent at three clubs - St. Helens, Leigh, and Warrington. He had a player-coach role for the latter two clubs. | |
| During National Service, Murphy played rugby union for the RAF. | |
| At ten years old he played in both the junior and senior XIIIs at St Austin's School, Thatto Heath, St. Helens and he had town and county schoolboy honours by the time he signed for his native St Helens on his sixteenth birthday in 1955. | |
| His career with Saints was long and successful, with 319 appearances, 175 tries and 42 goals, giving him a total of 609 points. | |
| After unhappy times at St Helens, and offers of work in Australia, Murphy agreed a five-year deal with Leigh to become the highest paid coach in the Rugby League. His first game saw a 29-5 win over his former club, St Helens. |
|
| Murphy was also employed as
a commentator by BBC television for a spell, and was employed to write
opinion columns for newspapers such as the Daily Mirror. One was known as
‘Murphy’s Mouth.’ |
| In 2006, he became Chairman of Oxford Cavaliers Rugby League Club. |
Jonathan
D. Davies,
MBE, (born 24 October 1962 in Trimsaran, Carmarthenshire) is a Welsh retired
rugby professional who represented his country in both rugby union and rugby
league. A goal-kicking backline player in both codes, he played his club
football in Wales, England and Australia.
| He started his career in rugby union at amateur level but was recruited into rugby league. He would later return to rugby union. | |
| Davies is the son of Diana and Len Davies, who worked in Trostre, Llanelli and played centre for Swansea and Llanelli RFC. Len had also been made Captain of Trimsaran Rugby Club. | |
| In 1974 Davies played for the very first time at Cardiff Arms Park, when he was chosen for the West Wales Under 12's. Age 17, Jonathan left school and became an apprentice painter and decorator. | |
| After developing at Trimsaran RFC, he was given a trial with Llanelli but was rejected. Neath gave him another chance and he signed with them in 1982, selected to play at fly-half. | |
| After 35 games for Neath he was selected to play for Wales, against England at home in the Cardiff Arms Park. After scoring a try and a drop goal, Davies was named Man of the Match in the Welsh victory. | |
| After problems in the Welsh game he controversially decided for the best interests of his family to move to the rugby league team Widnes, who signed him for £225,000. In 1991 he took on a further challenge when he spent the summer in Sydney playing for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and the North Queensland Cowboys in 1995. | |
| After Widnes got into financial difficulties, in 1993 he moved to their local rivals Warrington. During his time in rugby league he represented both Great Britain and Wales. He was also named player of the 1993-94 season, winning the RFL's Man of Steel Award. | |
| Davies' final rugby league match was for Wales against England in the 1995 World Cup, which Wales lost. | |
| After the birth of daughter Geena in 1995, Davies' wife Karen was diagnosed with cancer. In 1996 Davies was awarded an MBE and went with his family to Buckingham Palace to collect his award. His wife passed away in 1997. Nowadays he is a BBC rugby commentator in both England and his native Wales. |
Michael Keith "Mike" Gregory (20 May, 1964 – 19 November, 2007), was a rugby league player and later coach; the former head coach of Wigan and player for Warrington and Great Britain.
| Mike had a distinguished playing career captaining both Warrington and Great Britain, gaining over 20 caps for the Lions. | |
| He captained Warrington's winning 1989 Lancashire Cup side, and was captain when they were beaten at Wembley in the Challenge Cup. | |
| His most memorable match was the third Test in Australia in 1998, when his try won the game for the British team, their first win against Australia for a decade. | |
| He left Warrington in 1994. | |
| Gregory started his coaching career as assistant to Shaun McRae at St Helens. He spent three successful seasons at St. Helens between 1996-98, before taking the head coach job at Swinton. | |
| He later joined Wigan, taking charge of the Senior Academy in 2001. He led the youngsters to first place in the 2002 Academy Championship, before being promoted to Assistant Coach for the 2003 season. | |
| He spent three months as caretaker coach at Wigan, remaining unbeaten for 11 matches, and guiding Wigan into the Grand Final - becoming the first side from outside the top two to make it all the way - before being awarded the job full time on a 2 year contract. | |
| He took Wigan to the Challenge Cup Final in 2004, which turned out to be his last game. | |
| In 2004, it was revealed that Gregory had been suffering from a serious illness affecting his nerves and muscles which he had possibly contracted as early as 2001. The illness blocks signals from the brain getting to muscles, causing weight-loss and affecting speech. Gregory went to the USA for a week in May 2004 to receive specialist treatment. | |
| At the last home game of the season in 2006, it was announced that he was to become the latest addition to the Wolves Hall of Fame. As Mike was confined to a wheelchair, his two sons received the award on his behalf, although Mike was pitch-side at the time. |
| The rugby league world was shocked and saddened to hear that former
Warrington rugby league captain, Mike Gregory, has died after a four
year battle with a
neurological disease. It is thought an insect bite while on tour with
the Great Britain academy team in Australia in 2003 caused Mike to
develop Progressive Muscular Atrophy, a form of motor neurone disease.
Mike was wheelchair-bound for the last 12 months
of his life.
Tributes from Wolves fans and other clubs were left by the Brian Bevan statue. |
Warrington chairman, Lord Hoyle, paid tribute to Mike, saying: "I was deeply saddened to hear the news of Mike's death and my thoughts go out to his family and friends. Mike served our club with distinction as a player for 12 years, including captaining Warrington in their last Challenge Cup Final appearance in 1990. His brave battle against illness and his efforts to raise awareness of Progressive Muscular Atrophy has been an inspiration to us all. He will be greatly missed."
During his final years he wrote a book and also took part in many fundraising activities for disabled people. It was heartbreaking to see his demise on ITV1 Granada Reports on the day he died. He will be sadly missed by the rugby league world. Mike's funeral took place in Wigan on 23 November, 2007.
On Tuesday, 26 January 2010, the approach road to the Halliwell Jones stadium was renamed Mike Gregory Way in his memory. |
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Martin Gleeson was born 28 May, 1980, in Wigan. He is rated as one of the top centres in international rugby league.
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Much of his early rugby development took place in Australia where he emigrated with his family at age 9 to live in Queensland. | |
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He returned to England aged 17 and embarked on a professional career, signing for Huddersfield Giants in 1999. | |
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After three seasons with the Giants he left the club after their relegation from Super League in 2001, and signed for St Helens. | |
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He made his debut for Great Britain against Australia in Sydney in July 2002. | |
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He opened the 2004 season in superb form for St. Helens, and won the Challenge Cup against Wigan Warriors at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. However, he was involved in the 2004 rugby league betting scandal and received a four month suspension and £7,500 fine for breaking rugby league betting rules. | |
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Whilst serving his suspension, Gleeson was signed by Warrington Wolves for a club record fee for a reported £200,000, and made his debut for the Wolves in the 2005 season, recording a personal best scoring tally of 17 tries in 27 Super League appearances. He was named as a centre in the Super League Dream Team 2005. | |
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In September 2008 he was named in the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and in October, 2008, he was named in the final 24-man England squad. |
Andrew "Joey" Johns (born 19 May, 1974) was an Australian player. He usually played half-back but has played in other positions at times throughout his career. In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would be joining Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League and any playoff games the Wolves might get to. The Australian club, Newcastle Knights, first made him sign a new contract, making him available to captain the team until the end of 2008.
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In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. | |
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5 May, 2006, Johns played in his 21st and final Test match for the Kangaroos at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, with Australia defeating New Zealand by 50 points to 12. | |
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On 30 June, 2006, it was announced that Andrew Johns will play for the NSW cricket side in their upcoming Twenty20 series. | |
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On Saturday 8 July, 2007, against the Parramatta Eels, Andrew Johns converted a try scored by Riley Brown and became the highest point scorer in Australian first grade rugby league history, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. | |
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On 10 April, 2007, he announced his retirement from rugby league on health grounds. |
Lee Briers was born 14 June, 1978, and is a former captain of the Wolves, playing at scrum-half. He previously played for St Helens, but moved to Warrington Wolves as a teenager in a deal worth £65,000.
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He currently holds the Super League record (with Paul Bishop) for the most number of drop goals in a game (five against Halifax at The Shay). | |
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He also holds the record for points scored in a match (40 through 14 goals & 3 tries) and goals in a match (14) both recorded in the Challenge Cup against York in 2000. | |
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In 2006 he became Warrington's leading all-time drop-goal scorer, and at the end of the 2006 season has 50 to his name in Wolves' colours. | |
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Lee is also captain of the Wales national rugby league team and was selected in the back-up squad for the 2006 Tri-Nations competition in Australia and New Zealand, playing in Britain's warm-up game in Newcastle. | |
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One of his most memorable exploits on Sky was when he scored a try in the 2004/5 season and, as he couldn't stop himself, jumped over the advertising boards and sat down in an empty seat in the crowd to join in the applause for his own try! | |
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The 2008 Super League season is Briers' 11th, and he stepped down as captain at the end of the 2007 season. Currently fourth in the all-time points scoring list for the club, Harry Bath is next in Briers' sights. Only Brian Bevan and Steve Hesford have scored more for the famous club. |
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Rugby League in Britain and Ireland |
| Competitions Super League | National League | Challenge Cup | National League Cup National Conference League | Rugby League Conference | Scotland Rugby League |
| National teams Great Britain | England | Ireland | Scotland | Wales |
| Federations RFL | BARLA | Rugby League Ireland | Wales Rugby League |
| Former competitions Championship | Premiership | Lancs/Yorks Cups | Lancs/Yorks League Regal Trophy | Charity Shield | BBC2 Floodlit Trophy |