Garry Schofield
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Full name | Garry Edward Schofield[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Leeds, West Yorkshire, England | 1 July 1965||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Position | Centre, Stand-off | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Garry Edward Schofield
At the time of his retirement he was the most-capped
Club career
Hull
Schofield made his début for Hull as a 17 year old in 1983. Schofield played at
More success came for Schofield the following season in 1984 when he scored 4-
In 1985 Schofield played as a substitute replacing
In 1986 Schofield played at
Due to Hull's financial difficulties in the late 80s, they were forced to sell Schofield to Yorkshire rivals Leeds in 1987.
Sydney
Moving to Sydney, Schofield spent the 1985, 1986 and 1987 NSWRL seasons with the
In his three seasons with Balmain, he scored 28 tries, nine goals and four drop-goals in just 45 appearances.
He did not play in the 1988 Winfield Cup as he was touring with the Lions, but returned in 1989 to play for lowly Western Suburbs Magpies. Ellery Hanley, Schofield's international teammate who had led Balmain to the 1988 NSWRL Grand Final, recommended him to the club. Schofield scored five tries in eight starts for the club.
In 2012, Schofield and Hanley were inducted into the Wests Tigers Hall of Fame.
Leeds
Schofield moved from Hull to his home town club Leeds (Heritage No. 1183) in 1987 for what then was a world record fee of £155,000.[9] In 1988 Schofield was named the costliest player in world rugby league.[10]
Schofield played at centre and scored 2-tries, and a drop goal in Leeds' 33–12 victory over Castleford in the 1988 Yorkshire County Cup Final at Elland Road on Sunday 16 October 1988.
Schofield played at
In 1991 Schofield won the
He made over 250 appearances for Leeds, scoring 147 tries and 746 points.[11]
Huddersfield
Schofield finally left Leeds in 1996, joining Huddersfield for a six-figure sum. After helping Huddersfield into Super League, and went on to become player-coach but was dismissed after 13 games, having picked up two wins and only playing twice for the club.
Doncaster and Bramley
After he was dismissed from Huddersfield, Schofield signed for Doncaster in 1999 where he made seven appearances before signing for Bramley the same season before retiring at the end of the season.
International career
Great Britain
Schofield made his début for Great Britain in his first season in 1984 and went on to be selected for the 1984 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia at the age of just 18. Although
In 1985, Schofield re-wrote the record books by scoring four tries for Great Britain as they beat New Zealand in the second Test series at Central Park, Wigan. The series ended 1–1, with the third game drawn.
He was selected to go on the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour. In 1990, as vice-captain, Schofield was outstanding in Great Britain's series triumph in New Zealand and then in the shock 19–12 victory over Australia in the first Ashes test at Wembley.
Schofield experienced possibly his finest hour when captaining the
A year later, Schofield captained Great Britain to a superb 3–0 series whitewash over New Zealand before ending his Test career with two appearances in the
England
Schofield controversially missed out on selection for England's 1995 World Cup squad. But he did enough in the Test arena to win the respect of the usually hard-to-please Australians. When asked in 2010 by Rugby League World who was the best British player he faced, the Australian legend Brett Kenny replied, "Garry Schofield – he was a great player and a real thorn in the side of anyone he came across. He could score tries from nothing when he was a young centre and then he went on to become a very good stand-off and a very good leader."
Coaching career
Huddersfield
After helping Huddersfield into
BARLA and South Africa
In 2010, Schofield coached the British Amateur Rugby League Association Young Lions (Under 19s) in May & June. He led the Lions to five wins from five and players such as Tom Spencer (Wigan), Daniel Rooney (Workington Town) and Alex Walmsley (Batley) have since graced the professional ranks.
After being impressed by his coaching, he was invited to assist South Africa in 2010 and 2011.
Barrow
In late 2010, Schofield was appointed to coach high-flying, big-spending Barrow in the Championship, although he was fired after only 5 games in 2011 after a personality clash with the club's chairman Des Johnston, who was later that year banned from the sport for eight years by the Rugby Football League.
Honours
Hull
- Winners: 1983, 1984
- Runner up: 1986
- Runner up: 1985
- League Cup:
- Runner up: 1985
Balmain
- Winners: 1985
Leeds
- Winners: 1988
- League Cup:
- Runner up: 1988
Individual
- Man of Steel: 1991
- Golden Boot: 1990
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire: 1994[1]
- Wests Tigers Hall of Fame: 2012
- British Rugby League Hall of Fame: 2013
After playing
After retiring, Schofield became a media pundit and is well known for being controversial. He is a regular columnist for the weekly
Schofield is also a pundit for Talksport radio, and Proper Sport as well as appearing regularly on Premier Sports' 'Rugby League Back Chat'.
Schofield released his autobiography, Tries the Limit in 2001.
In 2013, he was named as the eighth best player worldwide to have played
References
- ^ a b "No. 53696". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 1994. p. 14.
- ^ "Player Summary: Garry Schofield". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
- ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ a b "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "1984–1985 Challenge Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". independent.co.uk. 20 August 1995. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^ "Four living legends inducted into RL Hall of Fame". Super League. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
- Fairfax Digital. 22 May 1988. p. 62. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ "Garry Schofield". Leeds Rhinos. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ 1984 1st Test Australia v Great Britain Highlights
- ^ "Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team". Arriva Yorkshire. 20 August 2009. Archived from the original on 29 August 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.