Iliess Macani (born 6 December 1993) is an English

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 er for 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 ...

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 ...

. He previously played for the

. Macani came through the London Broncos Scholarship and Academy teams and also played for the London Skolars juniors.

Background

Macani was born in

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England.

Playing career

London Broncos

Macani made his

début for the

on 9 August 2013 against St Helens scoring a try. He went on to make 1 more appearance that season against

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

. In 2014, Macani made 14

appearances for the London Broncos in 2014 scoring four tries with his standout performance being away at

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 ...

impressing the nation at . On 4 July 2014, Iliess Macani signed a two-year contract extension with the

to keep him at the club until the end of the 2016 season. The 2015 season was Macani's best season to date with the winger playing 28 games and scoring 12 tries. The 21 year old was rewarded by the head coach, Andrew Henderson with the number 5 shirt for the 2016 season.

London Skolars

Iliess Macani also featured for his junior club, the

London Skolars The London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre, New River Stadium in Wood Green, London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, North London. Founded in 1995, the club operated as a semi-professional team ...

in the Kingstone Press Championship 1 on dual registration from First:Utility Super League club,

playing 7 times and scoring 4 tries.

Bradford Bulls

Iliess Macani signed for the

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 ...

. On 3 January 2017,

were placed into liquidation by administrators and the contracts of players and staff were terminated. However Macani re-signed with the new club. Iliess featured in the pre-season friendlies against

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees 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 confl ...

and

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

Macani went on to featured in 25 games at his time with the Bradford side and scored ten tries during the 2017 Season.

Sheffield Eagles

At the end of the season he signed a one-year deal with

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Olympic Legacy Park and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Sheffield's on ...

. He was the third signing by the Sheffield outfit ahead of the 2018 season. He featured in the pre-season friendly against

London Skolars

On 14 October 2019, he confirmed that he had committed to the

for another year after the loan period ended in 2018. He scored four tries in five games for the Skolars in 2018. Macani scored 11 tries in 21 games for the Skolars in 2019. He played in two games for the Skolars, without scoring a try in 2020. Macani played in nine games for the Skolars, without scoring a try in 2021.

London Broncos (re-join)

On 15 October 2021, it was reported that he had rejoined the

in the

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

He scored 15 tries in 28 games for the London outfit in 2022. On 15 October, he played in the London Broncos upset

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 ...

victory over

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 ...

References

External links

London Broncos profileSuper League profileSheffield Eagles profileBradford Bulls profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macani, Iliess 1993 births Living people Bradford Bulls players English people of Algerian descent Sportspeople of Algerian descent English rugby league players London Broncos players London Skolars players People from Tottenham Sportspeople from the London Borough of Haringey Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league centres Rugby league players from London Rugby league wingers Sheffield Eagles players