Iestyn Rhys Harris (born 25 June 1976), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Welsh Wizard", is a former dual-code international 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 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

in rugby league in the 2000s and 2010s. He played representative rugby league for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

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 ...

, and at club level 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 ...

, 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 ...

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

) where he won the 1998 Man of Steel Award, the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

(

), and

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "small ...

( Heritage No. 922), and representative rugby union for

, and at club level for

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after ...

and Cardiff Blues, and has coached representative rugby league for

, and at club level for

(assistant coach), the

Crusaders Rugby League Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in ...

(initially as assistant coach under Brian Noble, and then head coach), 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 ...

(assistant coach), and

Salford Red Devils 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 th ...

(head coach).

Family

Harris was born in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

, England. His

Abercarn Abercarn is a small town and community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales. It is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. History An estate at ...

-born grandfather Norman Harris played for;

Abercarn RFC Abercarn Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Abercarn near the city of Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport Cit ...

Ebbw Vale RFC Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Glyn Ebwy) is a Welsh Rugby Union Club based in the town of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales. The club play in the Welsh Premiership and act as a feeder club for the Dragons regional team. ...

, Pontypool RFC and

Newbridge RFC Newbridge RFC is a Welsh Rugby Union club based in Newbridge, Caerphilly in South Wales. Newbridge RFC was formed in 1888 and joined the WRU in 1911. They play in the WRU Specsavers Division 1 East Club history Newbridge RFC established in 1 ...

before heading north to win eight Welsh caps under league rules. Iestyn is married to Becky Harris and has a daughter Catrin and son Cameron. He lives with his family in Cheshire.

Early Rugby League career

Warrington

Harris' professional career began with league club

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 ...

at age 17 in 1993 before a record-breaking £350,000 transfer to

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

in 1997. Iestyn Harris played left- in Warrington's 10–40 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

in the

1994–95 Regal Trophy The 1994–95 Regal Trophy was a British rugby league knockout tournament. It was the 24th season that the competition was held, and was the sixth staging of the competition since it was re-named the Regal Trophy. Wigan won the final, beating ...

Final during the 1994–95 season at

Alfred McAlpine Stadium Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of football club Huddersfield Town and rugby lea ...

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 ...

on Saturday 28 January 1995.

Leeds

Harris was made captain of Leeds Rhinos in his first full season at the club at the age of twenty-one, and became the first Leeds

in a decade to lift silverware when Leeds Rhinos claimed the 1999 Challenge Cup. Harris initially played at before being switched to . In 1998, despite having played most of his games at fullback, he was named in the half backs in 1998's Super League Dream Team and also collected the annual Man of Steel trophy as the best player in 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 ...

. He captained Leeds Rhinos from in their 1998 Super League Grand Final defeat by the

. A superb goal-kicker, Harris broke the club record for goals in a season in 1999 with 168, he was named at stand-off in 1999's

Super League IV JJB Sports Super League IV was the official name for the year 1999's Super League championship season, the 105th season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the fourth championship run by the Super League. The start of ...

Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...

, and broke the 2,000 career points total two years later. Harris matched the record for scoring the most points in a

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves a ...

Final when he scored 20 points (1 try, and 8 conversions) in

' 52–16 victory over

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

in the

1999 Challenge Cup The 1999 Challenge Cup, known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 98th staging of the Challenge Cup, a European rugby league cup competition. The competition ended with the final on 1 May 1999, which was played at Wembl ...

Final during

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 ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 1 May 1999. This equalled the record set by Neil Fox (2-tries and 7-goals) in

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

's victory over Hull F.C. in the

1960 Challenge Cup Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita ...

Final.

Cardiff and Wales RU

In 2001, Harris made a £1.5 million switch to

and

. Harris made his début for the Welsh side on 10 November 2001, playing against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

in Cardiff; Wales lost 16–30. Having played only 200 minutes of rugby union before his international début, Harris struggled, particularly with his tactical kicking. This led to a move from fly-half to inside centre, where he could be creative with less pressure.

World Cup 2003

Harris played in the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

in Australia, where Wales lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winners,

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 ...

, despite leading the game for 60 minutes. Harris won 25 Wales caps as a union player but made it clear that he wanted to return to League.

Return to Rugby League

Bradford Bulls

In 2004, Harris returned to rugby league, citing ''family reasons''. He joined

after a contractual fight with former club Leeds. His salary was reputed to be £1 million over 4 seasons. Harris played for the

at in their 2004 Super League Grand Final loss against the

. Harris was selected in the Great Britain team to compete in the end of season

2004 Rugby League Tri-Nations The second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament (known as the Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship) was contested between 16 October and 27 November of 2004. The format of the competition differed from the previous event in that the teams play ...

tournament. In the final against Australia he played at in the Lions' 44–4 loss. Harris wrote a book, published in October 2005, detailing his moves between codes called ''Iestyn Harris: There and Back – My Journey from League to Union and Back Again''. Harris was part of the 2005 Bradford Bulls squad that became the first side in the history of Super League to win the Grand Final when finishing third in the final league ladder. He played for the

at , kicking a goal in their 2005 Super League Grand Final victory against

. Harris was Bradford Bulls' captain for one year in 2006 taking over from Leeds-bound Jamie Peacock. As

champions Bradford Bulls faced

National Rugby League 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 ...

premiers Wests Tigers in the 2006 World Club Challenge. Harris captained the Bradford Bulls from , kicking five goas from six attempts in their 30–10 victory. On 10 May 2006, Harris announced he would be retiring from playing international rugby league with

, just a week after being named in a 36-strong training squad for a June 2006 Test against New Zealand. Harris, who won the last of his 15 Great Britain caps against Australia in November 2005, said he wanted to concentrate on his club career. On 26 September 2006, he confirmed that he would continue to play for

, and was scheduled to return to the side against Scotland at the

Brewery Field Dunraven Brewery Field ( cy, Cae'r Bragdy Dunraven) is an 8,000 (1,100 seated) capacity sports stadium in Bridgend, Wales. It is the home ground of the rugby union team Bridgend Ravens. Bridgend Athletic RFC often use the ground for their h ...

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying match on Sunday 29 October 2006. He was forced to pull out through injury hours before kick-off. Harris kicked a club record 15 goals against Toulouse Olympique in a record 98–6 win on 19 April 2008. Harris had been linked to a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

role with

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 ...

, but he decided to sign for

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 ...

club

instead.

Featherstone Rovers

Harris signed a 2-year deal at

, as well as playing, he also took his first steps into coaching and working in the marketing department of the club, he made his debut for

on Sunday 15 February 2009, he also ultimately made a lot of debt for Bradford Bulls, and he played his last match for Featherstone Rovers during the 2009 season. On announcement of his tenure as assistant coach to Brian Noble at Celtic Crusaders, he agreed termination of his contract at Featherstone Rovers and an immediate end to his playing career.

Coaching career

Wales National Rugby League team

While still playing for Bradford, Harris was appointed

Assistant Coach on 18 June 2008. On 22 September 2009, Harris was appointed Wales's rugby league head coach, succeeding John Dixon. Appointed alongside Harris were the more experienced Kevin Ellis and Clive Griffiths, and the trio's first match was against England on 17 October, which they lost 48–12. Wales qualified for the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations, and therefore won the Tournament's co-hosting rights with England. Unfortunately, as expected, Wales lost all of games, but they put up great fights. They lost by 42–4 against

, but they played well against the Kiwis at

. Wales lost by 36–0, but New Zealand were frustrated by not being able to play their attacking football full of flair, and this was due to Harris' team's good defence. Then surprisingly, in Wales' (and Welsh legend Lee Briers last game of his international career) final game of the Tournament, Wales shocked all odds, as they had an early 8–0 lead, against world heavyweights Australia, after 14 minutes. It took Australia until just before half-time to take the lead. Harris' men would then go on to lose the game 56–14, but he still gave Lee Briers a fitting farewell. Iestyn coached Wales in the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's Festival of World Cup ...

held in their own country and fellow British nation England. Unfortunately Iestyn's side didn't get a single win at the event, and they gave history to each of the teams that defeated them.

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

won their first World Cup match in their first appearance, USA in their annual tournament advanced to the quarter-final, and the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , langu ...

won their first ever World Cup match. On 9 April 2014, Harris resigned from the Wales post, after taking up the head coaching role at the

club, the

Crusaders Rugby League

On 14 October 2009, Harris was announced as assistant coach to Brian Noble at Wales-based

, alongside

Jon Sharp Jon Sharp (born 8 March 1967) was the head coach of Featherstone Rovers from 2015 to 2017. Between 2004 and 2008 he was head coach of the Huddersfield Giants, having been appointed in 2003 when Tony Smith left the club for the Leeds Rhinos. He ...

. After a year as assistant it was announced in November 2010 that Harris would take over as head coach of

following the resignation of Brian Noble. His first official game in charge was against

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

on Sunday 13 February 2011 in the opening round of the

. The game was played at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national ru ...

as part of the Magic Weekend.

Wigan Warriors

In 2011, Harris became the assistant coach at former club Wigan.

Salford Red Devils

In 2014, it was announced by

Marwan Koukash Marwan Koukash (born in Israel, December 1958) is a businessman and racehorse owner whose horses have won races including the Critérium de Maisons-Laffitte, Cesarewitch Handicap, City and Suburban Handicap, Ayr Gold Cup and Chester Cup. A 2018 ...

that Harris would take over from Brian Noble as head coach at

. The appointment was described as a "huge gamble". In Harris' first match in charge, Salford played away from home and defeated

by 38–24. In September 2015, after being absent from the club for two months, Salford mutually sacked Harris from his post as head coach of the club.

Media career

Iestyn regularly provides expert TV and radio analysis including BBC's Super League Show, and contributes to BBC Radio Five Live's rugby league coverage.

Author

Harris released his autobiography ''Iestyn Harris: There and Back - My Journey from League to Union and Back Again'' in 2005.

Personal life

Harris lives in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, England, he is married to Becky Harris with whom he has a daughter; Catrin, and a younger son; Cameron, he also has a sister; Rhiain.

Statistics

Rugby League

Club career

Representative career

References

External links

Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk (statistics currently missing due to not having appeared for both Great Britain, and England)
*(archived by web.archive.org
Bradford Bulls profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Wales Rugby Union profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Welsh RecordsWarrington's World Cup heroes – Iestyn Harris
*(archived by web.archive.org
RLPredictor.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Iestyn 1976 births Living people Bradford Bulls captains Bradford Bulls players Cardiff Rugby players Crusaders Rugby League coaches Dual-code rugby internationals English people of Welsh descent English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English rugby union players Featherstone Rovers players Great Britain national rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos players People educated at North Chadderton School Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Oldham Rugby union players from Oldham Salford Red Devils coaches Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team captains Wales national rugby league team coaches Wales national rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players