Andrew Scott Coley (born 7 July 1978) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop and second-row forward in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Great Britain and England international forward, he played in the Super League for the Salford City Reds and the Wigan Warriors.[3]

Andy Coley
Personal information
Full nameAndrew Scott Coley[1]
Born (1978-07-07) 7 July 1978 (age 45)
Warrington, Cheshire, England
Playing information
Height6 ft 3 in (1.90 m)
Weight16 st 5 lb (104 kg) [2]
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1997–00 Swinton Lions 64 20 0 0 80
2001–07 Salford City Reds 191 50 0 0 200
2008–11 Wigan Warriors 125 13 0 0 52
Total 380 83 0 0 332
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2001 Lancashire 1 0 0 0 0
2004 England 3 4 0 0 16
2007 Great Britain 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [3][4][5][6]

Career edit

Early career edit

Born in Warrington, Coley began playing rugby league for local amateur side Laporte ARL.[7]

Swinton Lions edit

He turned professional in 1997, joining the Swinton Lions.

In March 2000, Coley suffered a cruciate ligament injury, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.[8]

Salford City Reds edit

In 2001, Coley signed for Salford City Reds as a second-row prior to the 2001's Super League VI, but subsequently moved up into the front row. Coley impressed in his first season at the club, and was rewarded with a new four-year contract.[9] He required another knee operation at the end of the year, which ruled him out of the first few months of the 2002 season.[10]

In 2004, Coley signed a new three-year contract with Salford.[11]

Coley agreed a deal to join Wigan Warriors in September 2007 from Salford City Reds who were relegated in the 2007 Super League season.[12]

Wigan Warriors edit

Coley was first team prop at the Wigan Warriors since his arrival.

He played in the 2010 Super League Grand Final victory over St Helens at Old Trafford.[13]

Coley played as a prop forward in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final victory over the Leeds Rhinos at Wembley Stadium.[14][15] Shortly before the final, Coley announced he would be retiring from rugby league at the end of the 2011 season.[16]

Representative career edit

Coley's first representative honours came in 2001 when he represented Lancashire.

In 2004, he was selected for England during their victorious European Nations Cup campaign, scoring a hat trick of tries on his England début against Russia.

In 2006, he received his first call-up for Great Britain when he was selected for the 2006 Tri Nations. He appeared as a substitute in a warm-up game against Newcastle,[17] but did not feature in any Test matches during the tournament. In June 2007, Coley won his first and only cap for Great Britain in a 42–14 win against France.[18]

Post-playing career edit

Coley is a qualified quantity surveyor, and became Operations Director of a company in the construction industry.[19]

References edit

  1. ^ "Andrew Scott Coley". Companies House. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Wigan Warriiors Player Profile Andy Coley". web page. wiganwarriors.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ^ "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Player Summary: Andy Coley". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Andy Coley Factfile". Wigan Warriors. 8 September 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Lions bid to bounce back". Lancashire Telegraph. 31 March 2000. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Sporting Digest: Rugby League". The Independent. 8 May 2001. p. 23 – via NewsBank.
  10. ^ "Coley faces lengthy layoff". Salford Advertiser. 19 December 2001 – via NewsBank.
  11. ^ "Coley sticks with Reds". BBC Sport. 8 July 2004. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Wigan snap up Coley from Salford". BBC Sport. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  13. ^ Wilson, Andy (2 October 2010). "Wigan turn St Helens into sinners with Super League Grand Final win". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  14. ^ Scott, Ged (27 August 2011). "Leeds 18-28 Wigan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  15. ^ Wilson, Andy (27 August 2011). "Leeds Rhinos 18-28 Wigan Warriors – Challenge Cup final match report". The Guardian. London.
  16. ^ "Wigan prop Andy Coley to retire at end of season". BBC Sport. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  17. ^ "Peacock avoids warm-up red". The Guardian. 21 October 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Great Britain 42-14 France". BBC Sport. 22 June 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Our People". Greenmount Projects. Retrieved 9 October 2022.

External links edit