From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kris Radlinski MBE (born April 9, 1976 in Wigan, England) is a former English rugby league full-back who played for his
hometown club Wigan Warriors throughout his career and
also represented Great Britain.
He is of Polish descent.[1]
Playing
career
He signed for the town's club in 1993, aged 17, and went on to
play his entire professional career with them.
In a 13-year playing career he was a Championship winner in
1996, won the Regal
Trophy 1996, was named in the Super League Dream Team of 1998
and won the Grand Final in 1998 and the Challenge
Cup in 2002. In the 2002 Challenge Cup final at Murrayfield he
won the Lance Todd Trophy for man of the
match. Kris competed in this match despite being in hospital all
week prior to Wigan's 21-12 victory over St Helens with a serious
foot infection.
He was given a testimonial year in 2005 for his loyal service to
Wigan Warriors, and despite that year being very successful for the
team, it was a difficult season for Kris with him making only 15
appearances for the team through a knee injury. His testimonial
match was played at the JJB Stadium on the 29th January 2006
against the Huddersfield Giants. Wigan won this match 38-22.
International career
Internationally he was capped 20 times by Great Britain, and won
10 England caps. The pinnacle of his international career, in which
he was a main stay in the international setup, saw him captain the
team against New Zealand 'A'. He scored three tries in this
match.
Rugby
Union
He has twice been linked with a big money move to rugby union, in 2001
and 2005, but both times chose to remain faithful to his hometown
club. One of these offers was to be part of the England Rugby Union
team in the preparations for the 2003 World Cup.
Retirement
Radlinski announced his retirement from the sport prematurely on
2 March 2006 due to persistent injuries. He had made 310
appearances for Wigan, scoring 183 tries. This brought down the
curtain on a successful career during which the player was a loyal
servant to his club and to the game of Rugby League.
Comeback
In June 2006 Radlinski made the
shock announcement that he would be coming out of retirement to
help his old club Wigan Warriors. Kris had retired from Rugby
League and left the Warriors earlier in 2006 but after watching Wigan struggle in Super League XI
he decided to come out of retirement to help them avoid relegation.
His first match on his return, on the 18th June 2006, saw the Wigan Warriors beat Catalan Dragons
24-18. He played the rest of the season for "no fee". Wigan stayed in Super League whilst
Castleford
Tigers were relegated.
Coaching
Career
Radlinski returned to Wigan during the 2009 season to take a
scholarship coaching role. As well as publishing an autobiography
entitled "Simply Rad: The Kris Radlinski Story" he was given a
place on the England coaching staff for the 2009 Four Nations
tournament. On 1 December 2009, Radlinski was appointed Rugby
General Manager at Wigan and the right hand man to new head coach
Michael Maguire but will also continue his scholarship role as
well.[2]
Honors
|
Club
- 1995-96 Charity Shield
- 1995-96 Championship
- 1995-96 Regal Trophy
- 1996-97 Premiership
- 1998 Super League
- 2002 Challenge Cup
|
Individual
- 1995 Harry Sunderland Trophy - This was awarded for his man of
the match performance when he became the first player to score 3
tries in the Premiership final.
- 2001 Roy Powell Medal - Awarded for his man of the match
performance in Lancashire's 36-24 victory over Yorkshire. Plans to
marry child hood Sweet heart Rachel Turley in 2010.
- 2007 MBE
|
References
External
links
Wikis
Map
Search