Tony Benson (rugby league)

Tony Benson
Personal information
Full name	Tony Edwin Benson
Born	22 December 1965 (age 58); Auckland, New Zealand
Coaching information
Club
Representative
	As of 15 March 2021

Last updated April 24, 2024

Tony Benson (born 22 December 1965) is a rugby league coach from New Zealand.

Coaching career

New Zealand

Benson coached Bartercard Cup team Hibiscus Coast Raiders from 2001 to 2005, as well as the Junior Kiwis team from 2003 to 2005.^[1]

Great Britain

Moving to Britain in September 2005, Benson took charge of Leigh Centurions.^[2] Leigh's relegation from Super League had been all but confirmed at the time of his appointment and he knew his task would be to lead the club back to the top. He replaced Darren Abram, who left the club in September 2005. In his only season in charge, Benson led the Centurions to cup glory, in the victory over Hull Kingston Rovers in the Northern Rail Cup final.

Benson parted company with Leigh after the club's defeat by Batley Bulldogs in the 2006 National League One playoffs. Following the announcement, a number of Leigh's coaching staff and management left the club, resigning to show solidarity with Benson.

In 2007, Benson coached the Ireland A squad in the four nations championship.^[3] He also led the Irish Wolfhounds on a tour of New Zealand.^[4]

He was appointed head coach of the London Skolars in December 2007 to replace Latham Tawhai, who left to become the understudy coach at neighbours Harlequins RL. Benson left his job at London Skolars at the end of the season due to the inconvenience of travelling from his home in Leigh, Greater Manchester.^[5]

In 2009 he was appointed head coach of Oldham R.L.F.C. in the British Rugby League National Championship 1.^[1]

When he left Oldham, Benson became the first coach of new side Oxford Rugby League. He left the club after two seasons. Benson subsequently took up a post with Belgium Rugby League as Sport Director.^[6] Benson then decided to give up the professional side of the game to set up a coaching business coaching the amateur side of the game. He took on the Crosfields first team job, Manchester Met University RL and Leigh Miners U13s, while still coaching Belgium. He coached each team for 2 years and in his second season he won every title available losing only 3 games in a season across all 4 teams.

Kiwi Ferns

He was appointed as the coach of the Kiwi Ferns in March 2017 where they competed at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and lost narrowly in the Grand Final after completing the pool games undefeated.^[7]

Related Research Articles

The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC, based in York, England. The club play their home games at York Community Stadium and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Skolars</span> English rugby league club

The London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in north London. They were founded in 1995 and were semi-professional from 2003, operating in the Betfred League 1, until the club withdrew from the professional leagues at the end of 2023.

The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League the top tier of British rugby league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crusaders Rugby League</span> Defunct Welsh rugby league club

Crusaders Rugby League was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the Super League from 2009 to 2011.

Darren Abram is a rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at club level for Warrington, Swinton (1987–88), Springfield Borough (1988–90), the Rochdale Hornets (1990–91), Oldham (1993–97), Lancashire Lynx (1998), as a centre, and coached at club level for Chorley Lynx, the Leigh Centurions (2003–05), and the Rochdale Hornets (2006–07).

Frank Morris Endacott, also known by the nickname of "Happy Frank", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, and coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Littler</span> English rugby coach and former player

Stuart Littler is the former head coach of Oldham in RFL League 1. He is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer and a former head coach of Ireland.

Mike A. Ford is an English rugby union coach, and former professional rugby league footballer. He is currently the Head coach of the Belgian national rugby union team.

Justin Morgan is a former Wales international rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 1990s and 2000s. He later became a professional coach in the 2000s and 2010s. He has been an assistant coach of the New Zealand Warriors and the New Zealand Kiwis. He continues to work as a commentator.

Darren Shaw is a former Scotland international rugby league footballer, and coach. He has previously coached the Rochdale Hornets.

Latham Tawhai is a rugby league coach and former player from New Zealand. He has also represented his country in softball.

James Richard "Richie" Blackmore is a rugby league coach, and former professional footballer who represented New Zealand. His position of preference was as a centre.

Tony Roy Iro is a professional rugby league coach and former player who last coached the Cook Islands national rugby league team. He is a former New Zealand international representative, playing on the wing or in the second row in 25 Tests.

Neil Kelly is an English rugby league coach and former professional player who was the head coach of Cornwall RLFC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Bulldogs</span> English amateur rugby league club, based in Birmingham, West Midlands

Birmingham RLFC are a rugby league team based in Birmingham, United Kingdom. They play in the Midlands Premier division of the Rugby League Conference.

Geoff Fletcher was a professional rugby league footballer, coach and chairman. Fletcher in his younger years played for Thatto Heath and later with Pilkington Recs where he played as a back and also as a winger. He later turned professional with Leigh. Geoff Fletcher also had stints with Oldham, Wigan and Workington Town. He joined Huyton in 1978 and went on to become player / coach and later manager. He died in November 2017, aged 74.

Kurt Haggerty is a professional rugby league coach who is the assistant coach for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. He played in the 2000s and 2010s as a second-row and loose forward.

Samy Kibula is a Congolese professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop forward for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.

Rowan Milnes is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a stand-off or scrum-half for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.

Lee Sanderson is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a scrum-half for the Leigh Centurions, London Broncos, Oldham and the Rochdale Hornets. He also spent time on loan from Leigh at St Helens in the European Super League, and from the Broncos at the London Skolars in National League Two.

References

1 2 "Tony Benson named as new coach". Rugbyleagueforums.co.uk. 21 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011.
↑ "Kiwi Benson appointed Leigh coach". BBC Sport. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ "Local, latest and breaking news from the Rotorua region". Rotorua Daily Post . Retrieved 4 March 2017.
↑ ^[dead link ]
↑ "Ex-Oxford RL boss Tony Benson is new Belgium Rugby League Sport Director". Rugby League Planet. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
↑ "Tony Benson replaces Alan Jackson as Kiwi Ferns coach". 6 March 2017.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Tommy Martyn 2005	Coach Leigh Centurions 2005–2006	Succeeded by Darren Shaw 2006–2008
Preceded by Latham Tawhai 2005-2007	Coach London Skolars 2007-2008	Succeeded by Jermaine Coleman 2009
Preceded by Steve Deakin 2007–2008	Coach Oldham RLFC 2008–2012	Succeeded by Scott Naylor 2013–2019
Preceded by Eric Delreux 2009–2015	Coach Belgium 2015–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Michael Rawiri	Coach Kiwi Ferns 2017–2018	Succeeded by Justin Morgan 2018–2020

This New Zealand rugby league football biography is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[oldham-1] 1 2 "Tony Benson named as new coach". Rugbyleagueforums.co.uk. 21 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011.

[2] "Kiwi Benson appointed Leigh coach". BBC Sport. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 9 March 2010.

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[4] "Local, latest and breaking news from the Rotorua region". Rotorua Daily Post . Retrieved 4 March 2017.

[5] [dead link ]

[6] "Ex-Oxford RL boss Tony Benson is new Belgium Rugby League Sport Director". Rugby League Planet. Retrieved 4 March 2017.

[7] "Tony Benson replaces Alan Jackson as Kiwi Ferns coach". 6 March 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]