Anthony Marion (born 12 January 1994) is a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a for

Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship. The clu ...

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 sys ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at international level. He can also play or in the halves. Marion was the back-up goal-kicker to Mark Kheirallah for Toulouse in the Championship.

Background

Marion came through the youth system at

RC Albi Albi Rugby League XIII originally called Racing Club Albigeois XIII and more recently also known as RC Albi XIII are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Albi in the Occitanie region in southern France. Formed in 1934 the club compete ...

Club career

Toulouse Olympique

Marion joined the Toulouse "Centre du Formation" in the summer of 2014 from

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

. He made his debut for Toulouse in Elite 2 in 2014/15 and then seized his opportunity later in the season to progress to the first team, due to injuries to more senior players. Marion signed his first contract with TO alongside Maxime Puech in July 2015. At the end of the 2014/15 season, Toulouse had decided to move the first team to play in the English competition. With the next English season not due to commence until March 2016, Marion played the first half of the 2015/16 season in Elite 1 for

Toulouse Olympique Broncos Toulouse Olympique Broncos are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Toulouse in the south-west of France. Formerly called Toulouse Jules-Julien Broncos XIII, the club changed its name at the end of the 2011-12 season after being taken o ...

, the Toulouse reserve side who had taken their place in the French competition. In January 2016, Marion joined up with the first team for the 2016 campaign. 2016 was Toulouse's first season back in the English competition. They finished the season top of Kingstone Press League 1 but lost the promotion final to

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

before managing to secure promotion to the

for 2017. Marion played in 26 matches in total, scoring five tries in a season that saw him cement his place in the first team and secure a contract for 2017. Marion, alongside Clément Boyer, made the most appearances for TO in 2017, playing in 32 out of 34 matches and scoring 5 tries. On 7 October 2017, it was confirmed that he had been retained for the 2018 season. In 2018, Marion played 28 times, scoring 8 tries, and earned his first call up to the full

France national rugby league team The France national rugby league team represents France in international rugby league matches. They are referred to as ''les Chanticleers'' or less commonly as ''les Tricolores''. The team is run under the auspices of the French Rugby League Fed ...

. His durability and utility value (able to play in the halves, at hooker and loose-forward) was rewarded when TO announced on 10 January 2019, that he had been retained for the 2019 season. The 2019 season saw Toulouse finish second in the table and lose out to fifth-placed

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the preliminary final. Marion played in all 27 regular-season games and the three play-off matches, a feat matched only by skipper

Con Mika Constantine Mika (born 14 September 1989) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the XIII Limouxin. He previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL, Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League, Toulouse ...

. He scored a personal record 13 tries and also kicked 15 goals as back-up to Mark Kheirallah. In the final game of the 2019 season against Featherstone, Marion suffered a serious ankle injury. Despite the injury, Toulouse announced on 29 November 2019 that Marion had been retained for the 2020 season. Due to his injury, he did not play at all in the short 2020 RFL Championship that was subsequently cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. On 7 September 2020, Toulouse announced that Marion had signed a new contract that would keep him at the club until 2022. In

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, he played in 13 of Toulouse's 15 games, scoring 6 tries and kicking 27 goals. He wore the squad number 13 and played most of his matches at loose-forward. On 4 November 2021 it was announced that Marion would remain with the club until the end of the 2022 season. On 15 October 2023, Marion played in Toulouse Olympique's

Million Pound Game Million Pound Game (stylized as £1M Game) was an annual rugby league game that decides which Championship teams will be promoted to Super League, and which Super League teams would be relegated for the following season. Instituted in 2015 and ...

loss against the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

Club statistics

International career

France

Marion made his debut for

in 2018, coming off the bench in the 44-6 defeat to England at Leigh. He retained his place in the France squad for the

2018 Rugby League European Championship The 2018 European Championship is an international rugby league tournament that took place in October and November 2018. Four teams competed in the tournament, which forms the top tier of European international competition, and the first stage of ...

that autumn but didn't play in either victory against Wales or Ireland which saw France qualify for the

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 � ...

. Marion earned his second cap, scoring a try in the 28-10 victory over Scotland in

Carcassonne Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department. ...

in France's final match of the Championship. Marion missed France's tour to Australia at the end of the 2019 season due to a serious ankle injury sustained in the Championship Preliminary Final 12-36 defeat to

in the final game of the season. Marion made his third appearance for France in the 10-30 defeat to England in Perpignan in 2021.

International statistics

References

External links

Toulouse Olympique profileFrance profileFrench profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marion, Anthony 1994 births Living people 21st-century French sportsmen French rugby league players France national rugby league team players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Occitania (administrative region) Sportspeople from Albi Toulouse Olympique Broncos players Toulouse Olympique captains Toulouse Olympique players