Harrison Luther Mata'afa Hansen (born 26 October 1985) is a 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 and for

Baroudeurs de Pia XIII Baroudeurs de Pia XIII are a French Rugby league team based in Pia, Pyrénées-Orientales, Pia, Pyrénées-Orientales in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. SM Pia XIII was founded in 1960 and were national champions four times before they dropped o ...

in the French domestic

Super XIII Super XIII is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions w ...

league. He has played for

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at international level. He has also played for the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...

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. ...

and the

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

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. During his time with Wigan, he won two

Super League Grand Final The Super League Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of rugby league's Super League competition. It is played between two teams who have qualified via the Super League play-offs. The winning team receives the Super League Trophy and go ...

s and two

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

Background

Hansen was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand.

Early life

Hansen is the son of the rugby league footballer for

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

and Swinton, Shane Hansen. He is a product of the Folly Lane ARLFC who play at the Blue Ribbon Field,

Pendlebury Pendlebury is a town in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,069. It lies north-west of Manchester, north-west of Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford and south-east of Bolton. Histori ...

. Hansen attended the same Swinton school, Moorside High School, as

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; born 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach, former player and co-owner of Salford City. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, and one of the best wingers in the history of footba ...

. He is of

Samoan Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

, Chinese, and Scottish descent. Hansen impressed in Wigan's Academy setup and was signed on a new two-year deal in July 2003. Head coach of the time

Stuart Raper Stuart Raper (born 5 January 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He has since become a sideline commentator for the NRL with Foxsports. He is widely known for his father being Rugby League legend Johnny ...

said: "Harrison has impressed me this season in the Under 21s and he is another quality young player to come through the ranks joining the likes of Luke Robinson, Gareth Hock and Kevin Brown." Rugby Executive Dean Bell commented, "Harrison possess all the right qualities to become a regular first grade player, he has come through our scholarship system and has been outstanding in our Under 21 side this season. His signing reinforces the Wigan club's ongoing commitment in developing and promoting our young players."

Club career

Hansen continued his development by being promoted to the first team setup for

Super League IX Tetley's Super League IX was the name of the 2004 Super League championship season due to sponsorship by Tetley's Bitter. This was the 110th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the ninth championship decided by Supe ...

. He made his first team début in Terry O'Connor's Testimonial match against

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 ...

. He went on to make six substitute appearances in the season. In 2005, Hansen became a more established first team regular in the second row, partly due to the departure of

Andy Farrell Andrew David Farrell (born 30 May 1975) is an English professional rugby union coach and former rugby league and rugby union player. Farrell has been head coach of the Ireland national team since 2019. Farrell earned 34 caps for Great Britai ...

, and injuries to

Sean O'Loughlin Sean O'Loughlin (born 24 November 1982) is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer. He is an assistant coach of Wigan Warriors where he spent his entire playing career, playing as a loose forward for the ...

and

Gareth Hock Gareth Hock (born Gareth Charnock; 5 September 1983) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or for the Leigh Centurions in the Championship. He has represented Great Britain and England at international leve ...

. He signed a new two-year contract with the club in April 2005, and an extended four-year deal with Wigan on 14 November 2006, keeping him at the club until 2010. Hansen played in the

2010 Super League Grand Final The 2010 Super League Grand Final was the 13th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League XV. Held on Saturday 2 October 2010, at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium, the match was contested by English clubs ...

victory over St Helens at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. Hansen's 2011's

Super League XVI The Engage Super League XVI was the official name for the 2011 Super League season. Fourteen teams competed over 27 rounds, after which the highest finishing teams entered the play-offs to compete for a place in the Grand Final and a chance to win ...

started with a try against St Helens during the season-opening

Magic Weekend The Magic Weekend (also known as the Betfred Magic Weekend for sponsorship reasons) is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League in which an entire round of Super League matches is played over a weekend at a single stadium to promot ...

event, which was followed up with another try against

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 ...

the week after. Hansen scored again in Round 3's match against

, however in Round 12 during a victory against

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

, he suffered an injury which would keep him out of action for at least a month. Hansen played as a forward in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final 28–18 victory over the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. Hansen played in both the 2013 Challenge Cup Final victory over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...

and 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 ...

victory over the

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

. In 2013, Hansen signed for

for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract. Upon signing, he claimed it was the influence of Marwan Koukash that meant he was signing, and that joining Salford would be "a great new challenge. I have achieved everything I could at Wigan and had a great time there. I'm not just coming to Salford for an easy ride".

Toulouse Olympique

On 18 September 2019,

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

announced that Hansen had left them and signed a one-year contract with Toulouse for the 2020 season. On 10 October 2021, Hansen played for Toulouse in their victory over

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

in the

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 ...

which saw the club promoted to the

for the first time in their history. Three days later Toulouse announced that Hansen had signed a one-year contract extension until the end of the 2022 season. Hansen played 20 games for the club in their 2022 Super League campaign as they finished bottom of the table and were relegated back to the RFL Championship. On 15 October 2023, Hansen played in Toulouse Olympique's upset loss in the

against the

. On 19 October 2024, Hansen played in Toulouse's second successive Championship

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

defeat.

Baroudeurs de Pia XIII

On 31 Oct 2024 it was reported that he had signed for

in the

Representative career

Eligible for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, New Zealand and Samoa, Hansen represented England at youth level. However, in 2006 he was called up into the New Zealand squad for the mid season international against Great Britain. He later switched his allegiance to Samoa, and made his Samoa début in 2007. Hansen was part of the

squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

. In 2009 Hansen was named as part of the

side for the

Pacific Cup The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition, inaugurated in 1974, as a development competition for national teams from the Pacific region outside of Australia and New Zealand. The tournament ceased in 2009. In 2019, a similar com ...

. Following the withdrawal of

Roy Asotasi Roy Asotasi (born 6 January 1982) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. A New Zealand international captain, he also played for Samoa. Asotasi played in the NRL for Australian clubs Canterbury ...

, Hansen was named Samoa's captain for the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams. It took place between the 26 October and 30 November and was hosted by England and Wales (although some games were played in France and Ire ...

. However just before the tournament kicked off, he suffered an injury, forcing him out of the tournament. He handed the captaincy over to

Iosia Soliola Iosia Soliola (born 4 August 1986) is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL). He played for New Zealand and Samoa at international level. He previously played as ...

Background

Early life

Club career

Toulouse Olympique

Baroudeurs de Pia XIII

Representative career

References

External links