Lee Paul Briers (born 14 June 1978) 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 ...

coach who is currently a development coach at St Helens in the English Super League and assistant coach of the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

. A former

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

international, he played the majority of his career at

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 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 ...

as a or . He won three

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 ...

finals during his time at the club.

Club Career

Widnes vikings (1996) Played with Stuart Johnson

St Helens (1997)

Loan to Carcassonne (1996–97)

Briers' first experience of first team rugby was on loan at

AS Carcassonne Association Sportive of Carcassonne are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Carcassonne in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in the south of France. They play in the French Super XIII and are one of th ...

for the 1996–97

French Rugby League Championship The French rugby league championship () was the top tier of the French rugby league system from its inception in 1934 until 2002 when the league was split into two divisions; the Elite One Championship and Elite Two Championship. In all season ...

season. While at home for Christmas leave, he played a friendly for St Helens in their

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

Challenge Match against

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 ...

Return to parent club

Briers made his competitive St. Helens on 8 February 1997 in the fourth round match of the

1997 Challenge Cup The 1997 Challenge Cup, known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 96th staging of the Challenge Cup, a European rugby league cup competition. The competition ended with the final on 3 May 1997, which was played at Wem ...

game against Wigan at the age of 18, standing in for suspended captain

Bobbie Goulding Robert Dennis "Bobbie" Goulding (born 4 February 1972), also known by the nickname of "Bobbie Dazzler", is an English former professional rugby league footballer, and coach, who played in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, and has coached in ...

after an emergency player recal from his loan at Carcassonne. Saints won the game 28–12. From his debut to April of the 1997 season, Briers made six appearances for St Helens, scoring one try and 24 goals. He was dropped from the starting line-up following the return of Goulding.

Warrington (1997–2013)

Briers signed for

in April 1997 for a fee of £65,000, declining a three-year deal from

in the process. He was named Young Player of the Year in his first season at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year l ...

. Briers was named as captain in 2003 and became known for his excellent kicking skills and his ability to successfully convert drop goals. He currently holds the Super League record, and jointly Warrington all-time record (with Paul Bishop), for the most drop goals in a game (5 against Halifax at

the Shay The Shay is a multi-purpose sports stadium in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It is home to the FC Halifax Town association football club and the Halifax Panthers rugby league team. The stadium is owned by the Calderdale Metropolitan Bo ...

in 2002). Briers'

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

took place in 2007. He stepped down as captain at the end of the 2007 season. Briers played in the 2010 Challenge Cup Final 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 ...

. The 2011 Super League season was Briers' 14th. During this season he broke a number of club records including top all-time points scorer, having overtaken club greats

Brian Bevan Brian Eyrl Bevan (24 January 1924 – 3 June 1991), also known by the nickname of "Wing Wizard", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He became the only player ever to be inducted int ...

, and

Steve Hesford Steve Hesford (born 12 May 1954) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played for Warrington and Huddersfield. His usual position was . Hesford holds the club record at Warrington for most goals scored (1,112). He was also the c ...

. He broke the record during a Challenge Cup home 112–0 demolition of Swinton. This match also saw Briers break his own club record for points in a match (set 11 years earlier against York), with 44 points, from 16 goals and three tries. He played in the 2012 Challenge Cup Final victory over the

. He played in the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by ...

defeat by the

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 ...

. In 2013, during the second match of the season against Wigan Warriors, Lee suffered a neck injury which saw him sidelined for 13 games. He returned for Warrington's Challenge Cup fifth round tie against Salford City Reds in which he made scored one try and kicked his 1,000th career goal. He played in 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 ...

defeat by the

. In November 2013, although Briers had a year remaining on his contract, he announced his retirement due to a neck injury. He played 425 games for Warrington, scoring a club record 2,586 points. Shortly before announcing his retirement, Briers released his autobiography, ''Off the Cuff''. In 2018, Briers was inducted into Warrington's Hall of Fame.

International career

Having made his

début in 1998, Briers went on to make 23 appearances for his country and featured in the

2000 Rugby League World Cup The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth Rugby League World Cup, World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams, held between 28 October and 25 November and hosted between the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland and France. ...

. Briers was capped by Great Britain against France in their 42–12 win on 26 October 2001. Following the Wales team's failure to qualify 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 ...

, Briers announced his international retirement. Briers came out of international retirement to represent Wales in the

2010 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 also being includ ...

, and captained the side to victory in the tournament. He went on to captain Wales in the

2011 Four Nations The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette), was the third staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament, and was played in England and Wales durin ...

, before once again retiring from international rugby league at the tournament's end.

Coaching career

Following his retirement as a player, Briers became a youth coach at

before being promoted to Assistant First Team Head Coach in 2018. In 2021 he was signed by

as an Assistant Coach following the sacking of

Adrian Lam Adrian Lam (born 25 August 1970) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league coach, and former player, who is currently the head coach of the Super League club Leigh Leopards. He played for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby Leagu ...

. Briers stayed for one season in which Wigan won the

2022 Challenge Cup The 2022 Challenge Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022 Betfred Challenge Cup, was the 121st edition of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout cup tournament in British rugby league run by the Rugby Football League (RFL). It s ...

. He was signed by

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

as a Development Coach ahead of the 2023 season. Following the

2023 NRL Grand Final The 2023 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2023 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the Brisbane Broncos on Sunday the 1st of October at Stadium Aus ...

, in which Brisbane finished runners-up, Briers was appointed Assistant Coach of the

ahead of the

2023 Tonga tour of England The 2023 Tonga rugby league tour of England was a three-match List of rugby league tours, tour by the Tonga national rugby league team to England in October and November 2023. Background The tour was the first by a Pacific island nation to En ...

in addition to his role at Brisbane. Briers was not released by Brisbane for England's 2024 mid-season friendly against

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 ...

References

External links

Profile at warringtonwolves.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
2001 Ashes profileWarrington’s World Cup heroes – Lee BriersProfile at saints.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briers, Lee 1978 births Living people 20th-century English sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen AS Carcassonne players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Lance Todd Trophy winners Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside St Helens R.F.C. players Wales national rugby league team captains Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Warrington Wolves captains Warrington Wolves players