Mark Lennon - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mark Lennon is an Australian professional 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 for the Burleigh Bears

Burleigh Bears

The Burleigh Heads Rugby League Football Club are one of the oldest rugby league football clubs on the Gold Coast, Australia. Originally formed in 1934 playing out of Rudd Park, the club relocated to Pizzey Park in 1971, their current home ground....

of the Queensland Cup

Queensland Cup

The Queensland Cup is the premier rugby league football competition in the State of Queensland, Australia.It is a statewide competition with the majority of teams based in South East Queensland but also including sides based in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton.The competition began in 1996 as a...

. A Wales international

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...

representative, he has also previously played for the Castleford Tigers

Castleford Tigers

Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club based in Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. They participate in the professional European competition Super League. They are sometimes known as 'Cas', 'Cas Tigers', 'Classy Cas' or the 'Black & Amber'...

and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...

; his position of choice is usually at fullback or scrum-half however he can usually fit into any of the backline positions with ease making him somewhat of a utility back and Hull KR. Check his Twitter on 'the_gingerdobby'

Lennon originally began playing rugby league at a young age for local club side Como-Jannali RLFC before he was spotted by scouts from the National Rugby League

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

club the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and signed to a development deal. After several seasons with the Cronulla based club Lennon found it hard to make his way into the first grade side under head coach John Lang

John Lang (rugby league)

John Lang is an Australian former rugby league football coach and player. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative hooker, he played his club football in Brisbane with the Eastern Suburbs Tigers and in Sydney with the Eastern Suburbs Roosters...

and decided to take up an offer with European 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...

club the Castleford Tigers

Castleford Tigers

at the age of twenty in 2001.

While at Castleford Lennon made his Welsh debut for the national side

Wales national rugby league team

in a mid-season fixture against England

England national rugby league team

The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...

. After several years at the Tigers he left and returned to Australia after the club was relegated signing for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

but only managed to make a sole appearance in two years with the club. In 2007 he then returned to his first club the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks before again moving to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

after being signed by Super League newcomers Hull Kingston Rovers

Hull Kingston Rovers

Hull Kingston Rovers or Hull KR is an English professional rugby league football club based in Hull, England. The club formed in 1882 and currently competes in Super League, having won promotion from National League One in 2006...

Childhood and early career

Mark originally began playing rugby league at an early age 10 for gymea before moving to miranda magpies at age 11 and the joined the mighty Como Jannali Rugby League Football club [Cronulla Sutherland Junior Rugby League]. After several seasons with the club he was spotted by a Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks scout and offered a junior development contract.

After working his way through the junior grades at Cronulla Lennon moved to St George Dragons and could only reach reserve grade at the club before he signed for English club the Castleford Tigers

Castleford Tigers

while still twenty years of age.

Castleford Tigers

After signing for the Castleford Tigers

Castleford Tigers

in 2001 Lennon quickly made a name for himself as somewhat of a classy utility back usually playing at either fullback or filling one of the half positions. Mark would quickly cement his place within the Castleford starting thirteen and became a vital member of the teams attack and with his contribution the Tigers had successful 2001 and 2002 campaigns finishing mid-table and making the Rugby League Challenge Cup

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

semi-finals in consecutive years.

Lennon missed the majority of the 2003 season because of injury, mainly due to a broken leg which meant he could only make a few appearances for the club that year and at the conclusion of the 2004 season the Tigers were relegated to English division one. With the relegation of Castleford from Super League

Super League

Lennon returned to Australia signing with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Mark was originally signed as a depth replacement on an incentive-based offer for the beginning of the 2004 National Rugby League

National Rugby League

season and was seen as the long term option to take over from Luke Dorn

Luke Dorn

Luke Dorn is an Australian rugby league footballer who currently plays for the London Broncos club of the English Super League...

who had been released from the club because of his arrival.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Lennon returned to his original 'home' club side the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2007 for the first time since he originally signed for them as a teenager. During the first four rounds of competition however he failed to make a sole first grade appearance for the club and was relegated to playing in reserve grade in the centres. After only several weeks at the Cronulla club he left and returned to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

signing with Hull Kingston Rovers

Hull Kingston Rovers

After newly promoted Hull Kingston Rovers

Hull Kingston Rovers

had sustained several injuries to key players during their maiden Super League

Super League

season, head coach Justin Morgan

Justin Morgan

Justin Morgan was a U.S. horse breeder and composer.He was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts, and by 1788 had settled in Vermont. In addition to being a horse breeder and farmer, he was a teacher of singing; in that capacity he traveled considerably throughout the northeastern states...

offered Lennon (who was a former Welsh international team-mate) a one year deal at Craven Park. Morgan stated that his versatility and accomplished goal-kicking were key points in the signing.

He made his debut for his new club during their home fixture against Salford

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...

. Lennon would start on the bench eventually being substituted onto the field and scoring a try on debut although Rovers would eventually lose by four points 28-24.

He was Released from Hull KR on 17 September 2007

Wales

Lennon made his debut for the Welsh national side

Wales national rugby league team

during the 2001 season after qualifying to play for them through his parental heritage with his mother being born in 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...

. His first match for Wales was a mid-season test match against England

England national rugby league team

where he had an impressive debut playing at fullback although Wales would eventually lose by five points in a narrow 38-33 loss.

For the following five years Lennon would go on to make a further eight appearances for Wales with matches against Australia and Georgia

Georgia national rugby league team

The Georgia national rugby league team represented Georgia in rugby league football. It played its first international game in 2005. The Georgian team play in a red jersey with a white cross on the front...

as well as playing in the European Nations Cup

Rugby League European Nations Cup

The European Cup is a rugby league football tournament for European nations that was first held in 1935. The tournament was first started in 1935, with England, Wales and France each playing each other once...

where he scored a sixteen point haul against Russia at Aberavon

Aberavon

Aberavon is a settlement in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Port Talbot, covering the central and south western part of the town...

in 2003. His most recent appearance came during the European Championship when he was flown out from Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

while playing for Manly

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

for an international fixture against France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

where Wales would eventually lose 38-16

After signing with Hull Kingston Rovers

Hull Kingston Rovers

for the 2007 season Lennon is expected to appear in squads for Wales

Wales

next two major matches against Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

and Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

in late 2007.

International honours

Mark Lennon won caps for Wales

Wales national rugby league team

while at Castleford, Manly Sea Eagles, Hull KR, and Celtic Crusaders 2001…present 13(10, 12?)-caps 4(3?)-tries 12(13?)-goals 40(38?)-points.

He has been named in the Wales

Wales national rugby league team

squad to face England

England national rugby league team

at the Keepmoat Stadium prior to England's departure for 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...

.

In 2010 he represented Wales in the Alitalia European Cup.

Point scoring summary

Games	Tries	Goals	F/G	Points
53	-	-	-	-

Matches played

Team	Matches	Years
Castleford Tigers	51	2001–2003
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	1	2004–2006
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	-	2007
Hull Kingston Rovers	1	2007 -
Wales	9	2001–2006

External links

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