Iestyn Harris
Encyclopedia
Iestyn Rhys Harris is a Welsh former rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 footballer, who is currently the assistant coach at Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

. Harris is a former Man of Steel winner and has also represented Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 on numerous occasions at both codes of rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

. He was named coach of the Wales national rugby league team
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...

 toward the end of the 2009 season after finishing his playing career at Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...

 to move onto Crusaders as assistant.

Family

Harris was born in Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...

, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

. His Abercarn
Abercarn
Abercarn is a small town community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales, 10 miles north-west of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.-History:...

-born grandfather Norman Harris played for Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...

, Pontypool
Pontypool
Pontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales....

 and Newbridge
Newbridge RFC
Newbridge RFC are a Welsh rugby union club based in Newbridge, Caerphilly in South Wales. Newbridge RFC was formed in 1888 and gained admission to the WRU in 1911...

 before heading north to win eight Welsh caps under league rules.

Personal life

Harris lives in Todmorden
Todmorden
Todmorden is a market town and civil parish, located 17 miles from Manchester, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Upper Calder Valley and has a total population of 14,941....

, West Yorkshire. He has a sister, Rhian (whose children are Dewi and Emrys), and is married to Becky Harris with whom he has a daughter, Catrin. He also has a younger son.

He set up RLPredictor.com, a rugby league prediction website, but it failed to take off and is now non-operational.

Warrington

Harris' professionally career began with league club Warrington
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

 at age 17 in 1993 before a record-breaking £350,000 transfer to Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...

 in 1997.

Leeds Rhinos

Harris was made captain of Leeds in his first full season at the club at the age of twenty one, and became the first Leeds skipper in a decade to lift silverware when Leeds claimed the 1999 Challenge Cup.

Harris initially played at full back before being switched to stand-off. In 1998, despite having played most of his games at fullback, he was named at stand-off half in the Super League Dream Team
Super League Dream Team
The Super League Dream Team is an award given each season to the players deemed to have been the best in their position in the Super League by a panel of journalists and broadcasters....

 and also collected the annual Man of Steel trophy as the best player in Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

. A superb goal-kicker, he broke the club record for goals in a season in 1999 with 168, and broke the 2,000 career points total two years later.

Harris holds the joint record for scoring the most points in a Challenge Cup Final, he scored 20-points (1-try and 8-goals) in Leeds Rhinos victory over London Broncos in the 1999 Challenge Cup Final. This feat equalled the record set by Neil Fox
Neil Fox (rugby league)
Neil Fox MBE is an English former rugby league footballer and player-coach of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. A goal-kicking , he is one of the most prominent figures in the history of the sport because he holds the all-time points record, scoring 6,220 points during his career...

 (2-tries and 7-goals) in Wakefield Trinity's
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...

 victory over Hull in the 1960 Challenge Cup Final.

Cardiff and Wales RU

In 2001, Harris made a £1.5 million switch to Cardiff RFC
Cardiff RFC
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...

 and Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

.

Harris made his début for the Welsh side on 10 November 2001, playing against Argentina
Argentina national rugby union team
The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...

 in Cardiff; Wales lost 16–30. Having played only 200 minutes of rugby union before his international début, Harris struggled, particularly with his tactical kicking. This led to a move from fly-half to inside centre, where he could be creative with less pressure.

World Cup 2003

Harris played in the 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

 in Australia where Wales lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winners, England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

, despite leading the game for 60 minutes. Harris won 25 Wales caps as a union player but made it clear that he wanted to return to League.

Bradford Bulls

In 2004, Harris returned to rugby league, citing family reasons. He joined the Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

 after a contractual fight with former club Leeds. His salary was reputed to be £1 million over 4 seasons.

Harris wrote a book, published in October 2005, detailing his moves between codes called Iestyn Harris: There and Back – My Journey from League to Union and Back Again. Harris was part of the 2005 Bradford Bulls squad that became the first side in the history of Super League to win the Grand Final when finishing third in the final league ladder.

Harris was Bradford Bulls captain for one year in 2006 taking over from Leeds-bound Jamie Peacock
Jamie Peacock
James "Jamie" Peacock is an English professional rugby league footballer for the Leeds Rhinos of the European Super League...

. In his time as captain Bradford Bulls won the 2006 Carnegie World Club Challenge
World Club Challenge
The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club...

 after defeating 2005's Australian Champions, the Wests Tigers
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's mid-western suburbs. They have competed in the National Rugby League since they were formed at the end of the 1999 season as a joint-venture club between the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs...

. On 10 May 2006, Harris announced he would be retiring from playing international rugby league with Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....

, just a week after being named in a 36-strong training squad for a June 2006 Test against New Zealand. Harris, who won the last of his 15 caps against Australia in November 2005, says he wanted to concentrate on his club career. On 26 September 2006, he confirmed that he would continue to play for Wales
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...

, and was scheduled to return to the side against Scotland at the Brewery Field
Brewery Field
Brewery Field is a 8,000 capacity sports stadium in Bridgend, Wales 1,100 of which is seated capacity...

, Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...

 in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup
2008 Rugby League World Cup
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...

 qualifying match on Sunday 29 October 2006. He was forced to pull out through injury hours before kick-off.

Harris kicked a club record 15 goals against Toulouse Olympique
Toulouse Olympique
Toulouse Olympique are a French professional rugby league team from Toulouse, in the southwest of France. They were founded on 22 October, in 1937 two years after the founding of the French Rugby League Federation. Between 1995 and 2002 the club were known as Spacers de Toulouse, due to links with...

 in a record 98 – 6 win on 19 April 2008. Harris had been linked to a player-coach role with Crusaders, but he decided to sign for National League One club Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...

 instead.

Featherstone Rovers

Harris signed a 2 year deal at Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...

, as well as playing, he also took his first steps into coaching and working in the marketing department of the club. On announcement of his tenure as assistant coach to Brian Noble
Brian Noble (rugby league)
Brian 'Nobby' D. Noble is an English former rugby league footballer. Noble is also the former coach of the Great Britain National Rugby League team. He was also the captain of the 1984 Great Britain touring team to Australia...

 at Celtic Crusaders, he agreed termination of his contract at Featherstone Rovers and an immediate end to his playing career.

Wales National Rugby League National team

While still playing for the Bradford Bulls, Harris was appointed Wales
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...

 Assistant Coach on 18 June 2008. On 22 September 2009, Harris was appointed Wales's rugby league head coach, succeeding John Dixon
John Dixon (rugby league)
John Dixon is an Australian former rugby league football coach and player. He played during the 1970s and coached the Welsh Crusaders club of Super League and was also head coach of Wales RL until mid 2009...

. Appointed alongside Harris were the more experienced Kevin Ellis and Clive Griffiths
Clive Griffiths (rugby)
Clive Ronald Griffiths is a former Wales international rugby league and rugby union player. Born in Loughor, Swansea, he was affectionately known as "Clive the Ship" after the family pub in nearby Penclawdd...

, and the trio's first match was against England on 17 October, which they lost 48–12.

Crusaders Rugby League

On October 14, 2009, Harris was announced as assistant coach to Brian Noble
Brian Noble (rugby league)
Brian 'Nobby' D. Noble is an English former rugby league footballer. Noble is also the former coach of the Great Britain National Rugby League team. He was also the captain of the 1984 Great Britain touring team to Australia...

 at Wales-based Crusaders Rugby League, alongside Jon Sharp
Jon Sharp
Jon Sharp is the current first team coach of Super League club Crusaders Rugby League. Between 2004 and 2008 he was head coach of Huddersfield Giants, having been appointed in 2003 when Tony Smith left the club for Leeds Rhinos. He was also part of the Great Britain coaching set-up under head coach...

. After a year as assistant it was announced in November 2010 that Harris would take over as Head Coach of Crusaders Rugby League following the resignation of Brian Noble
Brian Noble (rugby league)
Brian 'Nobby' D. Noble is an English former rugby league footballer. Noble is also the former coach of the Great Britain National Rugby League team. He was also the captain of the 1984 Great Britain touring team to Australia...

. His first official game in charge will be against the Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...

 on Sunday 13 February in the opening round of the Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

. The game will be played at the Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...

 as part of the Magic Weekend
Magic Weekend
The Magic Weekend, previously Millennium Magic, is a concept by the Rugby Football League to stage an entire round of Super League matches in prestigious and exciting cities to showcase the sport....

.

Club career

Year Club Apps Pts T G FG
1993–94 Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

10 54 4 19
1994–95 Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

39 148 18 38
1995–96 Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

23 156 11 55 2
1996 Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

18 152 4 67 2
1997 Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

2 6
3
1997 Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...

25 183 7 77 1
1998 Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...

26 275 13 110 3
1999 Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...

31 343 18 135 1
2000 Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...

23 252 11 106
2001 Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...

 
18 185 8 76 1
2001–02 Cardiff RFC
Cardiff RFC
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...

-
2002–03 Cardiff RFC
Cardiff RFC
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...

-
2003–04 Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, the team have played at Cardiff City Stadium since the start of the 2009/2010 season and are owned by Cardiff Rugby Football Club....

-
2004 Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

13 30 6 3
2005 Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

32 104 17 17 2
2006 Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

 
30 42 5 11
2007 Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

22 72 5 26
2008 Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

 
11 8
4
2009 Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...

 
19 59 5 19 1

Representative career

Year Team Matches Tries Goals Field Goals Points
1995  Wales (RL)
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...

 
? ? ? ? ?
1999
Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 
1 1 1 0 6
2000  Wales (RL)
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...

 
1 0 0 0 0
2001  Wales (RU)
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 
3 0 0 0 0
2002  Wales (RU)
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 
7 0 0 0 0
2003  Wales (RU)
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 
11 0 0 0 0
2004  Wales (RU)
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 
4 0 0 0 0
2004
Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 
3 0 2 0 4
2005
Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 
3 0 8 0 16

External links

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