Gregg McNally (born 2 January 1991) is an

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

international

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 plays as a for

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 ...

in the

RFL League 1 The Rugby Football League's League One (known as the Betfred League One) is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain. Introduced in 2003 as National League 2 i ...

. He has played at representative level for England (Academy, 2008 tour of Australia) he started his career at Kells, and at club level for

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

(three spells, including the second during 2009, and the third during 2010 on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

from

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

( dual registration),

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club play home games at Craven Park (Barrow), Craven Park and compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rug ...

(

Leigh Centurions 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 system, British rugby league. ...

, (two spells), Whitehaven RLFC and in the

Betfred Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) after the Super League. Intr ...

for

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

, as a

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

-kicking or .

Background

McNally was born in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England, he has Irish

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

s, and eligible to play for

due to the grandparent rule.

Career

Huddersfield Giants

McNally was transferred from

to the

during November 2008, after which he made his début in a friendly match against Halifax on Sunday 4 January 2009 and then returned to Whitehaven on loan for a season. At youth level McNally scored 18 points to take Whitehaven School to the 2006–2007 national

Champion Schools The Champion Schools tournament (known as the Carnegie Champion Schools due to sponsorship) is a full contact knock-out rugby league football competition open to every secondary school in England, Scotland and Wales and is the largest rugby leag ...

final, going on to take his team to victory in the final with three tries, qualifying for European competition.

Leigh Centurions

McNally joined

in time for the 2012 season. At the Leigh Centurions McNally won 1

Northern Rail Cup The Championship Cup (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's British rugby league system, Rugby League Champ ...

, 3

League Leaders' Shield The League Leaders' Shield is a trophy awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. This regular portion of the season precedes the playoffs for the eventual Super League Grand Final. The tro ...

, and 1

Kingstone Press Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) after the Super League. Intr ...

Grand Final.

Bradford Bulls

In January 2018 NcNally joined

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

on a two-year deal. He was released by the Bulls in January 2019 on compassionate grounds.

Whitehaven

On 4 December 2020 it was reported that McNally would return to

for the 2021 season.

Rochdale Hornets

On 22 October 2021 it was reported that he had signed for

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

in the

Rochdale Hornets (re-join)

On 12 November 2023 it was reported that he had re-signed for Rochdale in the RFL League 1.

International honours

In 2010 he represented Ireland at the

Alitalia European Cup The 2010 Rugby League European Cup, known as the Alitalia European Cup for sponsorship purposes, is a rugby league football tournament. Three of the competing teams participated in the 2009 Rugby League European Cup, with France national rugby lea ...

. Despite Ireland coming fourth of four McNally was the top points scorer of the competition. He also represented Ireland in the 2011 Autumn International Series, and the 2012 European Cup. In 2016 he was called up to the

squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup European Pool B qualifiers.

References

External links

Profile at bradfordbulls.co.ukProfile at bradfordbulls.co.ukProfile at leighrl.co.ukProfile at giantsrl
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNally, Gregg 1991 births Living people Barrow Raiders players Bradford Bulls players Cumbria rugby league team players English people of Irish descent English rugby league players Huddersfield Giants players Ireland national rugby league team players Irish rugby league players Leigh Leopards players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Whitehaven Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players