Adrian Shelford

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Adrian Shelford
Personal information
Full nameAdrian Tremain Shelford
Born4 January 1964
Christchurch, New Zealand
Died19 September 2003(2003-09-19) (aged 39)
Wigan, Greater Manchester, England
Playing information
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
19??–85 Hornby
1986–87 Upper Hutt
1987–90 Wigan 82 5 0 0 20
1988 Newcastle Knights 5 0 0 0 0
1990
Manly Sea Eagles
11 0 0 0 0
1990–92 Wakefield Trinity 36 2 0 0 8
1992 Sheffield Eagles 4
Total 138 7 0 0 28
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1984–85 Canterbury 11
1984–85 South Island 5
1986–87 Wellington 10
1986–87 Central Districts
1986 New Zealand Māori
1986–89 New Zealand 8 1 0 0 4
1988 Rest of the World 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Adrian Tremain Shelford

NSWRL Premiership, as a prop
.

Background

Shelford was born in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Early years

Shelford played for Hornby and Canterbury before moving to Wellington to advance his career. He was named the Canterbury Rugby League Player of the Year in 1984. He made the Junior Kiwis in 1982 and 1983.[3]

In Wellington, Shelford joined the Upper Hutt Tigers.

Professional career

Shelford moved to England in 1987 with both

Halifax 32–12 before 94,273 spectators at Wembley Stadium
.

After a short stint with the

1988 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1988–89 season at Knowsley Road on Sunday 23 October 1988.[4]

Shelford played at

1988–89 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1988–89 season at Burnden Park, Bolton on Saturday 7 January 1989.[5]

Shelford played 22 matches for the Wigan club in the 1989/90 season, and was back again at Wembley Stadium to help Wigan to a win over

Manly
in the Australian competition in 1990, appearing in 11 matches, with most of those coming off the bench.

Shelford headed over to

1990 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1990–91 season at Elland Road on Sunday 23 September 1990. He was involved in eight games in 1991–92 season with Wakefield Trinity before finishing the season with four games for the Sheffield Eagles
.

Representative career

Shelford represented the New Zealand Under 17's in 1981 and was a Junior Kiwi the following year while playing for Christchurch club Hornby. In 1984, his first full senior year, he made his début for South Island. He played 11 provincial games for Canterbury before being chosen to tour Great Britain and France with the New Zealand national rugby league team in 1985. He was involved in 11 games on that tour but did not feature in any of the Test matches.

He moved to Wellington club Upper Hutt in 1986 and went on to represent the district in 10 provincial matches between 1986 and 1987. He represented the New Zealand Māori in the 1986 Pacific Cup.[6]

He made his Test début in 1987 against Papua New Guinea at Goroka and Port Moresby before taking on the Australians in 1987 in which the Kiwis scored a famous 13–6 win over the world champions at Lang Park.

“We were confident of beating the Aussies. We have a side that I believe is the best in the world, which is good for the game in New Zealand," Shelford said at the time.[citation needed]

He played just four games, including one test, on the 1989 tour of Great Britain before being injured. Overall, he appeared in eight test matches as well as representing the Rest of the World in 1988 against Australia at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Personal life

Shelford's league career was ended by a knee injury at the age of 27.[7]

Shelford planned for life after rugby league by graduating with honours from Edge Hill University. He was teaching at a local high school in Wigan, England and had just gained promotion when he died on 19 September 2003 of a heart attack, aged 39.[8]

Shelford's cousin

All Blacks. His son Kyle Shelford made his début for Wigan Warriors against the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats on Friday 8 July 2016[9] and his eldest son Dane Shelford represented Junior All Blacks at the 2015 under 19 Rugby World Championship in South Africa
.

References

  1. ^ "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. ^ SHELFORD, Adrian Tremain 1985 – 89 – Kiwi #585 Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
  3. ^ Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.
  4. ^ "1988–1989 Lancashire Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  5. ^ "1988–1989 John Player Special Trophy Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  6. .
  7. ^ Team of the Century – Week 6 Archived 8 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine Wellington Rugby League
  8. ^ "Ex-NZ prop Shelford dies". BBC. 20 September 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  9. ^ Shelford: I wish dad was here to see debut

External links