Simon Finnigan

Simon "Finny" Finnigan
Personal information
Born	8 December 1981 (age 42); Warrington, Cheshire, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	14 st 13 lb (95 kg)
Playing information
Position	Loose forward, Second-row
Club
Representative
Coaching information
Club
	Source: As of 28 April 2022

Last updated November 25, 2024

Simon Finnigan (born 8 December 1981)^[4] is a rugby league coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Widnes Vikings in the Championship and was previously head coach at Newcastle Thunder and an assistant coach at the Toronto Wolfpack. An Ireland international second-row, he played in the Super League for the Widnes Vikings, Salford City Reds, Bradford Bulls and the Huddersfield Giants, and in the Championship for the Leigh Centurions.

Background

Simon Finnigan was born in Warrington, Cheshire, England, he grew up in Australia, playing for the Penrith Panthers junior teams before joining Widnes Vikings in 2003.

Club career

Finnigan played three season in Super League for Widnes Vikings, before leaving following the club's relegation at the end of the 2005 Super League season. He subsequently joined Salford City Reds, where he played for two seasons before again leaving when the club was relegated at the end of the 2007 Super League season. He signed for Bradford Bulls in September 2007 and stayed for one year before joining Huddersfield Giants in 2009. He rejoined Widnes Vikings in 2011, before finishing his career with Leigh Centurions in 2013. He announced his retirement from the sport in January 2014.^{[ citation needed ]}

Representative

He was named in the Ireland training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup,^[5] and the Ireland squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.^[6]

He was again named in the Ireland squad for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, and made two appearances in the tournament, his final rugby league match being Ireland's defeat against Australia.^{[ citation needed ]}

Statistics

Club career (Super League)

Year	Club	Apps	Pts	T	G	FG
2003	Widnes Vikings	19	4	1	-	-
2004	Widnes Vikings	25	32	8	–	-
2005	Widnes Vikings	26	48	12	–	-
2006	Salford City Reds	25	48	12	-	-
2007	Salford City Reds	25	20	5	-	-
2008	Bradford Bulls	26	28	7	-	-
2009	Huddersfield Giants	20	20	5	-	-
2010	Huddersfield Giants	7	4	1	-	-
2012	Widnes Vikings	10	0	0	-	-

Representative career

Year	Team	Matches	Tries	Goals	Field Goals	Points
2008–13	Ireland	9	1	0	0	4

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Finnigan moved into coaching become assistant coach at the Toronto Wolfpack. In 2019 he became head coach of Newcastle Thunder then in League 1, the third tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom.^[7]

Finnigan was appointed the head coach of the Widnes Vikings in the Championship (the second tier) in November 2020 but left the club in April 2022 by "mutual consent".^[8]

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References

↑ "Altius Directory Rugby League World Cup 2008 Ireland Team". web page. Altius Directory. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
↑ loverugbyleague
↑ RLP
↑ "Huddersfield lose Simon Finnigan for Super League play-offs". Guardian. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
↑ "Ireland Name World Cup 40 Man Training Squad". Rugby League Ireland. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
↑ "Cassidy included in Ireland squad". BBC. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
↑ Heppenstall, Ross (21 February 2022). "Widnes Vikings remain grounded as fans dare to dream of Super League return". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
↑ "Widnes Vikings part company with head coach Simon Finnigan". Rugby League News. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.

External links

Toronto Wolfpack profile
Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
(archived by web.archive.org) Bradford Bulls profile
(archived by web.archive.org) Ireland profile

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[1] "Altius Directory Rugby League World Cup 2008 Ireland Team". web page. Altius Directory. Retrieved 16 August 2011.

[2] verugbyleague

[3] RLP

[Huddersfield_lose_Simon_Finnigan_for_Super_League_play-offs-4] "Huddersfield lose Simon Finnigan for Super League play-offs". Guardian. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2017.

[Ireland_Name_World_Cup_40_Man_Training_Squad-5] "Ireland Name World Cup 40 Man Training Squad". Rugby League Ireland. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2008.

[Cassidy_included_in_Ireland_squad-6] "Cassidy included in Ireland squad". BBC. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.

[7] Heppenstall, Ross (21 February 2022). "Widnes Vikings remain grounded as fans dare to dream of Super League return". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 28 April 2022.

[8] "Widnes Vikings part company with head coach Simon Finnigan". Rugby League News. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.

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v t e Newcastle Thunder coaches
Gateshead Thunder	Shaun McRae (1999) Andy Kelly (2001–02) Paul Fletcher (2003) Seamus McCallion (2004) Dean Thomas (2005–06) Dave Woods (2007–08) Chris Hood (2009) Steve McCormack (2009) Richard Pell (2010–11) Kevin Neighbour (2012–13) Stanley Gene (2014–15)
Newcastle Thunder	Michael Mantelli (2016–17) Jason Payne (2017–19) Simon Finnigan (2019–20) Eamon O'Carroll (2020–22) Denis Betts (2022) Chris Thorman (2023–)