Richard David Myler (born 21 May 1990) is a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a and for the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Head ...

in the

Betfred Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. He is a member of the Ireland squad for the delayed

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £ ...

, having declared for Ireland in 2022. Previously he has represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and the

England Knights England Knights (previously known as Emerging England and England A) is considered the feeder team for the England rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an i ...

at international level. He has played for the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, and the

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been the ...

in the Championship and the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

. Myler has also played for the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warringto ...

and the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ou ...

in the Super League.

Early life

Myler was born in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form t ...

Cheshire, England Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and Historic counties of England, historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Sta ...

Playing career

Club career

Widnes Vikings

Myler began his career with

, playing two games in the 2007 season.

Salford: 2008-2009

Myler signed for Salford from

on a three-year deal in 2008 and contributed to Salford winning the

National League One National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

title, scoring 25 tries in 32 appearances, and winning numerous awards as well as the Co-Operative Player of the Year award. On 14 February 2009 Myler made his

début against

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

, scoring a try in a Salford victory.

Warrington: 2010-15

In 2009, he signed a four-year contract with

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The populati ...

worth around £200,000, making him the most expensive teenage signing in Rugby League history. Myler was offered a new contract which allegedly would have made him the highest paid player in the history of Widnes. According to agent

Martin Offiah Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was induct ...

he rejected the deal, instead favouring a four-year deal with Warrington. Richard Myler

He played in the

2012 Challenge Cup Final The 2012 Challenge Cup Final was the 111th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2012 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 25 August 2012, kick off 14:30. The final was contested by Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wo ...

victory over the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He played in the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by ...

defeat by the

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after We ...

. He played in the

2013 Super League Grand Final The 2013 Super League Grand Final was the 16th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League XVIII. The game was held on Saturday 5 October 2013, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Wigan Warri ...

defeat by the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

Catalans Dragons

In 2015, he declared he was interested in playing the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

the next year as he wanted a new challenge. Manly were rumoured to want Myler after the departure of halves pairing

Kieran Foran Kieran Foran (born 13 July 1990) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL and New Zealand at international level. Foran previously played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, ...

and

Daly Cherry-Evans Daly Cherry-Evans (born 20 February 1989) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL and Australia at international level. He captains Manly and won the 2011 NRL Grand ...

. However, on 10 July 2015, it was confirmed that Myler would stay in the Super League, signing a two-year deal with

from 2016.

Leeds Rhinos

On 27 June 2017 it was confirmed Myler had signed a three-year deal to join

starting from the following season. Myler was named

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed i ...

winner for his performance at in the 2020 Challenge Cup Final. In round 21 of the 2022 Super League season, Myler scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

in Leeds 36-32 victory over the

. Leeds had been down 32-6 in the second half with one player being issued with a red card. In round 25 of the 2022 Super League season, Leeds defeated

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into t ...

18-14 in controversial circumstances. With less than five minutes to play, Myler was caught in a tackle with Huddersfield's Chris Hill, Myler then lifted his legs in the air in attempting to milk a penalty. The referee issued a yellow card to Hill over the incident which moments later eventuated in Leeds scoring the winning try. On 24 September 2022, Myler played for Leeds in their 24-12 loss to

St Helens RFC St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and becom ...

in the 2022 Super League Grand Final.

International career

England

Myler has represented both the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

and

U-17s at Academy Level. He was named in the England training squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

. He was named in the

team to face

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at the

Keepmoat Stadium The Eco-Power Stadium (formerly known as Keepmoat Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Doncaster, England, with a capacity of 15,231. It cost approximately £20 million to construct, as part of the wider Lakeside Sports Complex that it ...

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

prior to England's departure for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He made his England début in the victory over

on 10 October 2008. Myler represented England against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

on 13 June 2009. He started the game as a and scored 30 points in the 66-12 England victory. Myler was not called up to the England RL side for the Four Nations in 2011, however he was selected in the England Knights where he put in two man of the match performances but was still not called up. Myler was recalled to the international stage in 2018, playing in test matches against

at the

Leigh Sports Village Leigh Sports Village is an £83 million multi-use sports,
retail and hou ...

and New Zealand.

Ireland

In August 2022 Myler declared that he was available to play for in the forthcoming

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. He is qualified to play for Ireland through one of his grandfathers. Myler was named in the Ireland squad for the tournament when it was announced on 29 September 2022.

Personal life

In March 2012 Myler became engaged to then ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

'' presenter

Helen Skelton Helen Elizabeth Skelton (born 19 July 1983) is an English television presenter and actress. She co-presented the BBC children's programme ''Blue Peter'' from 2008 until 2013, and since 2014 has been a presenter on '' Countryfile''. She also co ...

. They married in December 2013, and Skelton gave birth to their first child, a boy named Ernie, on 19 June 2015. followed by their second son, Louis, in April 2017. The couple's daughter, Elsie Kate, was born on 28 December 2021. Skelton announced on 25 April 2022 that the couple had separated.

References

External links

Leeds Rhinos profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at warringtonwolves.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
SL profileIreland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myler, Richie 1990 births Living people Catalans Dragons players England Knights national rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Lance Todd Trophy winners Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Widnes Salford Red Devils players Warrington Wolves players Widnes Vikings players