Paul Deacon
Encyclopedia
Paul Deacon is a retired rugby league
footballer. He previously played for Bradford Bulls
from 1998 until joining his hometown club Wigan Warriors
in 2010. He is currently a member of Wigan's coaching staff, working closely with manager Shaun Wane
.
near Wigan
, a former Hindley
amateur, Deacon made his senior professional début four days before his 18th birthday as a substitute for Oldham
in a 48-6 RL Challenge Cup fourth round home defeat of Rochdale Hornets
on 9 February 1997. He made only four appearances for Oldham before moving to Bradford. He has been one of Bradford's most influential players in the 21st century so far.
and came through the youth system at the same time as Jamie Peacock
and Stuart Fielden
.
on 28 June 1998.
.
.
In August 2007 he was named in Bradford's Team of the Century.
In September 2007 Deacon reached 2,000 goals for Bradford.
in January, Paul Deacon's name also appeared on all away jerseys to commemorate his loyalty to Bradford. On 16 April 2008 Paul signed a new 2 year contract until 2010.
For Great Britain he won caps while at Bradford in 2001 against France and Australia, in 2002 against New Zealand (3 matches), in 2003 against Australia (2 matches, plus 1 as sub), and in the 2005 Tri Nations against Australia, and New Zealand (2 matches).
Deacon was recalled for the Great Britain train-on squad for the 2007 test series with New Zealand, but pulled out due to injury.
He was forced to rule himself out of contention for the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup
through injury.
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. He previously played for Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....
from 1998 until joining 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....
in 2010. He is currently a member of Wigan's coaching staff, working closely with manager Shaun Wane
Shaun Wane
Shaun D. Wane is a former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and '90s, and current coach at Wigan Warriors. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and at club level for Wigan St Patricks, Wigan, Leeds, and Workington Town, playing at , /, i.e...
.
Background
Hailing from StandishStandish, Greater Manchester
Standish is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located on the A49 road between the towns of Chorley and Wigan, a short distance from Junction 27 of the M6 motorway....
near Wigan
Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is named after its largest component town, Wigan and also includes the towns of Leigh, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ince-in-Makerfield, and Hindley. The borough was formed in 1974 and is an...
, a former Hindley
Hindley, Greater Manchester
Hindley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Lying three miles east of Wigan it covers an area of 1044 hectares. Historically a part of Lancashire, Hindley which includes Hindley Green borders the towns of Ince-in-Makerfield and Leigh within Wigan...
amateur, Deacon made his senior professional début four days before his 18th birthday as a substitute for Oldham
Oldham Roughyeds
Oldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895....
in a 48-6 RL Challenge Cup fourth round home defeat of Rochdale Hornets
Rochdale Hornets
Rochdale Hornets RLFC is an English professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. They currently play in Championship One...
on 9 February 1997. He made only four appearances for Oldham before moving to Bradford. He has been one of Bradford's most influential players in the 21st century so far.
Bradford
He signed for Bradford from OldhamOldham Roughyeds
Oldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895....
and came through the youth system at the same time as Jamie Peacock
Jamie Peacock
James "Jamie" Peacock is an English professional rugby league footballer for the Leeds Rhinos of the European Super League...
and Stuart Fielden
Stuart Fielden
Stuart Fielden is an English professional rugby league footballer for Wigan of Super League...
.
1998
Deacon scored a try and goal on his début for Bradford at scrum half in a 36-10 Super League home defeat of Huddersfield GiantsHuddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are a professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who play in the European Super League competition. They play their home games at the Galpharm Stadium which is shared with Huddersfield Town F.C....
on 28 June 1998.
2002–2003
He has since gone on to be one of Bradford's key players. He is a superb organiser and has a tremendous kicking game. In the seasons of 2002 and 2003 his goal kicking percentage was near 80%.New points total
On the 23rd June 2006, Paul Deacon broke the record points scored for a Bradford player (1,834), which was previously held by Keith MumbyKeith Mumby
Keith Mumby is a former rugby league player, who most famously played for the Bradford Bulls between 1973 and 1993 as a , or .-Bradford Northern:Keith Mumby began his Bradford Northern professional playing career at the age of sixteen...
.
2007
In 2007 Paul became the Bradford captain taking over from Iestyn HarrisIestyn Harris
Iestyn Rhys Harris is a Welsh former rugby league footballer, who is currently the assistant coach at Wigan Warriors. Harris is a former Man of Steel winner and has also represented Wales on numerous occasions at both codes of rugby...
.
In August 2007 he was named in Bradford's Team of the Century.
In September 2007 Deacon reached 2,000 goals for Bradford.
2008
In 2008 Deacon celebrated his testimonial year with Bradford after 10 years of service for the Super League club. As well as a testimonial match against his hometown club Wigan WarriorsWigan 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....
in January, Paul Deacon's name also appeared on all away jerseys to commemorate his loyalty to Bradford. On 16 April 2008 Paul signed a new 2 year contract until 2010.
2009 and 2010
In November 2009, Deacon signed for Wigan after 11 years at Bradford, and appeared in his first Grand Final in 5 years being part of the winning team in 2010 after beating St Helens 22-10 at Old Trafford.Great Britain & England
Paul Deacon won caps for England while at Bradford in 1999 against France (2 matches), in the 2000 World Cup against Russia, Fiji, Ireland and New Zealand, and in 2001 against Wales.For Great Britain he won caps while at Bradford in 2001 against France and Australia, in 2002 against New Zealand (3 matches), in 2003 against Australia (2 matches, plus 1 as sub), and in the 2005 Tri Nations against Australia, and New Zealand (2 matches).
Deacon was recalled for the Great Britain train-on squad for the 2007 test series with New Zealand, but pulled out due to injury.
He was forced to rule himself out of contention for the England training squad 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...
through injury.
Club career
| Year | Club | Apps | Pts | T | G | FG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 |  BradfordBradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
13 | 24 | 4 | 4 | |
| 1999 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
28 | 69 | 1 | 32 | 1 |
| 2000 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
27 | 85 | 9 | 23 | 3 |
| 2001 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
27 | 78 | 6 | 25 | 4 |
| 2002 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
28 | 319 | 6 | 147 | 1 |
| 2003 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
29 | 313 | 9 | 137 | 3 |
| 2004 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
28 | 276 | 7 | 123 | 2 |
| 2005 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
31 | 359 | 12 | 153 | 5 |
| 2006 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
28 | 264 | 7 | 118 | - |
| 2007 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
21 | 216 | 5 | 98 | |
| 2008 | Bradford Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league.... |
12 | 109 | 1 | 52 | 1 |
Representative career
| Year | Team | Matches | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 |  EnglandEngland 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... |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 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... |
4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 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... |
4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 |  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".... |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 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".... |
3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| 2004 | 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".... |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 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".... |
3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 |