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 46)
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

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Early career

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

Swinton Lions

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

References

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  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.
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