Kris Radlinski
Encyclopedia
Kris Radlinski MBE
(born April 9, 1976 in Wigan
, England
) is a former English
rugby league
and who played for his hometown club Wigan Warriors
throughout his career and also represented Great Britain
. He is of Polish
descent.
for man-of-the-match in Wigan's victory.
In a 13-year playing career Radlinski was a RFL Championship winner in 1996. He won the Regal Trophy
1996.
In the 1997 post season, Radlinski was selected to play for Great Britain
at centre in all three matches of the Super League Test series
against Australia.
Radlinski was named in the Super League Dream Team
of 1998 and won the 1998 Super League Grand Final
. 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.
, 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.
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 Catalans Dragons
24-18. He played the rest of the season for "no fee". Wigan
stayed in Super League
whilst Castleford Tigers
were relegated.
during the 2009 season to take a scholarship coaching role. As well as publishing an autobiography entitled Simply Rad 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.
Individual
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(born April 9, 1976 in Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
, 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...
) is a former English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
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...
and who played for his hometown club 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....
throughout his career and also represented 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"....
. He is of Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
descent.
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 1995, at age 19, he became the first player to score a hat-trick in a Premiership final and also the youngest ever winner of the Harry Sunderland TrophyHarry Sunderland Trophy
The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded to the Man-of-the-Match in the Super League Grand Final by the Rugby League Writers' Association. It is named after Harry Sunderland, who was an Australian rugby league football administrator in both Australia and the United Kingdom...
for man-of-the-match in Wigan's victory.
In a 13-year playing career Radlinski was a RFL Championship winner in 1996. He won the Regal Trophy
Regal Trophy
The Regal Trophy was a knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs between 1971 and 1996.It was initially for professional clubs with the exception of two amateur teams who were finalists of the BARLA National Cup...
1996.
In the 1997 post season, Radlinski was selected to play for 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"....
at centre in all three matches of the Super League Test series
Super League Test series
The Super League Test series was a three-Test match series between the Great Britain national rugby league team and Super League's Australian national team held during November 1997 in England...
against Australia.
Radlinski was named 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....
of 1998 and won the 1998 Super League Grand Final
1998 Super League Grand Final
The 1998 JJB Super League Grand Final was the first Grand Final of the Super League era, held on Saturday 24 October 1998, at Old Trafford, Manchester, United Kingdom. This was the first time the Rugby Football League Championship had been decided by play-off since the 1972–73 Rugby Football League...
. In the 2002 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....
final at Murrayfield he won the Lance Todd Trophy
Lance Todd Trophy
The Lance Todd Trophy is awarded to the Man-of-the-Match in rugby league football's Challenge Cup Final.The trophy was introduced in 1946, in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in a road accident during the Second World War...
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
JJB Stadium
The DW Stadium is a sports stadium in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, that is home to Wigan Athletic football club and Wigan Warriors rugby league club....
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 unionRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, 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
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...
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 XISuper League XI
Engage Super League XI was the official name for the year 2006's Super League season in the sport of rugby league in Europe. Bradford Bulls were looking to retain the title they won in Super League X....
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
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....
beat Catalans Dragons
Catalans Dragons
The Catalans Dragons are a French professional rugby league club based in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales. They currently play in the Super League, and are the only team in the competition from outside of the United Kingdom...
24-18. He played the rest of the season for "no fee". Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
stayed 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...
whilst 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'...
were relegated.
Coaching career
Radlinski returned to WiganWigan 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....
during the 2009 season to take a scholarship coaching role. As well as publishing an autobiography entitled Simply Rad 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.
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.
- Married childhood sweetheart Rachel Turley in December 2007.
- 2007 MBE
External links
- Kris Radlikski official website
- Kris Radlinski Wigan Career Page on the Wigan RL Fansite.
- Kris Radlinski Wigan Profile
- 2001 Ashes profile
- RFL hails impact of Radlinski MBE
- Radlinski Receives MBE
- Radlinski stunned by MBE
- International Statistics at englandrl.co.uk
- Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org