Ellery Hanley

Cuthwyn Ellery Hanley MBE (born 27 March 1961) is an English former rugby league player and coach. Over a nineteen-year professional career (1978–1997), he played for Bradford Northern, Wigan, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Leeds. He won 36 caps for Great Britain, captaining the team from 1988 to 1992, and 2 for England. Nicknamed 'Mr Magic' and 'The Black Pearl', he played most often as a or after starting out as a or .
Hanley won the Man of Steel Award a record three times, the Lance Todd Trophy once, and the Golden Boot in 1988. He was awarded the MBE in January 1990 for services to the game. In 2005 he was inducted into the Rugby Football League Hall of Fame.
After his playing career, he had spells as head coach of Great Britain, St Helens and Doncaster.
Biography.
Hanley was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, of Jamaican descent. He is the father of Umyla Hanley, who currently plays in Super League for the Wigan Warriors.
Bradford Northern.
In 1978, Hanley signed for Bradford Northern from the junior club Corpus Christi. On 26 November 1978, he made his professional début for Northern against Rochdale Hornets in a League Division One match. He helped his club to a 30–18 victory, by scoring a try on his début. He had to wait his time before gaining a regular first team place but in the early 1980s he emerged as one of the top players in the game.
In 1984–85, his last season with the club, Hanley became the first man to score more than 50 tries in a season since Alf Ellaby, and the first non-winger to reach this figure for 70 years. He scored a remarkable 55 tries in only 37 appearances, an achievement made even more remarkable as he switched between the positions of wing, centre and stand-off. For his achievements in the 1984–85 season, he was awarded the Man of Steel award, which is awarded to the player judged to have made the biggest impact in the season, as well as the First Division Player of the Year.
In total, Hanley made 126 appearances for the club, scoring 89 tries.
Wigan.
In 1985 he signed for Wigan for a fee of £150,000, with Steve Donlan and Phil Ford moving to Bradford Northern in exchange for Hanley as part of the deal. Hanley finished his first season for the club with 35 tries.
During his second season at Wigan he scored 63 tries playing at centre, stand-off and loose forward, an all-time record for a non-winger. In the 1987 season, Hanley was awarded the Man of Steel award, being voted the player who made the biggest impact during the season. His play that year helped Wigan to their first league title in 27 years. He played in Wigan's 1987 World Club Challenge victory against the visiting Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
Hanley holds the record for the most tries in a Regal Trophy (or precursors) Final with 3 tries.
In 1988, Hanley was in dispute with Wigan and was stripped of the captaincy. He was transfer listed at a then record £350,000. But when Wigan reached the semi-final of the 1988 Rugby League Challenge Cup against Salford, coach Graham Lowe recalled Hanley to the team. Upon his return Hanley scored a try in the final. Hanley scored a try at Wembley Stadium. Ironically it was set up by Joe Lydon – reminiscent of the two tries he scored against Wigan four years earlier. Ray French stated it was the second greatest ever seen in a final.
Hanley was then selected as captain for the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour. The Lions defeated Papua New Guinea but lost The Ashes to Australia, losing the first two tests in Sydney and Brisbane. The third test was a triumph for Hanley and his Lions though as they defeated Australia for the first time in a test match since 5 November 1978, ending Australia's streak of 15 straight wins over Great Britain. The Lions then defeated New Zealand 12–10 in Christchurch for their only test in NZ to finish the tour on a high note.
In 1989, Hanley helped the club reach the Challenge Cup Final, where they won a 27–0 victory over St Helens in front of a crowd of approximately 78,000 people at Wembley, the first time in Cup Final history at Wembley that a side had been held scoreless. He was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for the man of the match. For his performances throughout the season he was also awarded the Man of Steel award for the second time as a Wigan player, and the third time in his overall career. 1989 was also the year in which Hanley was awarded the Adidas Golden Boot, which was awarded to the world's most outstanding player. Hanley remembers that "It was something I always strove for. I wanted to be the best player in the world… Looking back, to be the world's best player at that time was the biggest honour of my career."
Internationally, 1990 was a disappointment. Hanley captained Great Britain against the 1990 Kangaroos, and although they pulled off a shock 19–12 win over Australia in the first test at Wembley with Hanley playing a prominent role, the Kangaroos would come back to win the second and third tests to extend their Ashes series streak over the Lions which dated back to 1973. Prior to the arrival of the Kangaroos in England, Hanley's influence in the British game was shown. During one early season Wigan game leading English referee Robin Whitfield sent Hanley off for back-chat and as he departed the field Hanley allegedly told Whitfield that he would end up in the second division. Hanley was originally handed a 2 match suspension for his actions. However, upon appeal this was reduced to just one week, and Whitfield, despite his standing as one of the game's top officials, refereed the second division for the next 6 weeks.
He led Wigan to another two League and Cup doubles. By 1991 though his relationship with the media reached an all-time low. Although both Wigan and Great Britain captain, he was not expected to carry out any media role.
In total he spent around five years with the club, making 202 appearances and scoring 189 tries. In his Wigan career, he won a World Club Championship, 4 Challenge Cup winners medals, 3 Championships, 1 Premiership, 4 John Player Trophy Winners medals and 4 Lancashire Cup winners medals. He was also voted Man of Steel twice as a Wigan player. Hanley was inducted into the Wigan Hall of Fame in 2007.
Balmain (1988).
Hanley, the Great Britain captain, was signed by Sydney club Balmain Tigers to play the remaining rounds of the 1988 NSWRFL season for them once his representative commitments were fulfilled. In his first season with the club he helped them to the Grand Final in 1988 against Canterbury by defeating Penrith, Manly, Canberra as well as Cronulla in the preliminary finals. The preliminary final against Cronulla was a closely fought battle, until Hanley went to set up the try that would seal the victory for Balmain as they edged out their opponents 9–2, the win sending the club to their first Grand Final since 1969.
The first half of the Grand Final was a tight contest as Balmain led 6–4 scoring due to a mistake from Canterbury Jason Alchin. In the 26th minute, Hanley was wrapped up low by Andrew Farrar, and as he want to offload the ball, Terry Lamb hit Hanley with a high tackle that went unnoticed by the referee. He hit the ground in an awkward position and was concussed. He played no further part in the match, and his side went on to lose the game 24–12. Lamb said he was only looking to wrap the ball up and there was no intention. Lamb commented in his 1992 book that Balmain had key players such as Wayne Pearce, Ben Elias, Paul Sironen and Garry Jack that there was no chance to target one individual.
Speaking to Inside Sport Magazine in August 2005, Hanley was asked:
What do you remember about that infamous tackle by Terry Lamb?

Alexander Widiker

Alexander Widiker (born 27 April 1982) is a German international rugby union player, playing for Heidelberger RK in the Rugby-Bundesliga and, formerly, the German national rugby union team.
Widiker played in the 2011 and 2012 German championship final for Heidelberger RK, which the club both won, with Widiker scoring a try in the 2011 game.
Widiker is one of the few German players who has successfully played abroad. From 2006 to 2010, he played for the RC Orléans in the Fédérale 1, alongside two other German internationals, the brothers Matthieu and Guillaume Franke. In his last season with "RCO" he was also the team's captain.
Biography.
Widiker was born 27 April 1982 in Kostanay, Kazakhstan, as one of three children as an ethnic German in Kazakhstan in 1982. His parents, Friedrich and Emilia Widiker, are of Volga German descent. Widiker's grandparents were forcefully removed from the former Volga German Republic to Kazakhstan. When Widiker was eleven years old, his family moved to Germany. Initially, the family moved to Bramsche in Lower Saxony but was then allocated accommodation in Leipzig. Eventually, the family chose to move to Wiesloch, near Heidelberg.
Widiker, who played association football, ice hockey and basketball in Kazakhstan, only began playing rugby when going to school in Germany. He joined the TB Rohrbach, which later merged its youth team with the SC Neuenheim, where he made his debut in the senior team at the age of 17. He played for the German Under-17 and Under-19 team, taking part in two world championships, before making his debut for the senior side on 21 October 2001 against Sweden.
Before moving to France, Widiker, who has been playing rugby since 1994, won two German championships with his former club, SC Neuenheim, in 2003 and 2004.
Widiker was scheduled to return to Germany for the 2010–11 season to play for SC Neuenheim once more, but instead joint Heidelberger RK. He is also the new German captain, leading the team for the first time on 20 November 2010 against Poland.
With the final game against Moldova, Alexander Widiker played his 50th game for his country, thereby equaling Horst Kemmling's record of number of internationals for the "DRV". He overtook Kemmling's record when he played his 51st game against the Ukraine on 27 October 2012.
Widiker retired from international rugby after a record 58 games for Germany after a 76–12 win against the Czech Republic in April 2014, citing increased personal and business commitments as his reason. He however returned to the German team one more time in May in the decisive world cup qualifier against Russia which Germany lost.
Stats.
Alexander Widiker's personal statistics in club and international rugby: