Anthony Myler (born 26 September 1960) is an English former 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 played in the 1980s and 1990s who also became a coach. A Great Britain international representative , he played club football in England for

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, ...

, with whom he won the Premiership during the 1982–83 season, as well as a stint in Australia with the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...

. Tony Myler is the brother of the rugby league footballer John Myler and the uncle of Stephen Myler

Playing

Myler played for Widnes RUFC Colts before embarking on a professional career with the Widnes rugby league club in 1978. Tony Myler appeared as a substitute (replacing Mick Burke on 59-minutes) in

14–14 draw with Hull F.C. in the

1982 Challenge Cup __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 fo ...

Final during the 1981–82 season at

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 ...

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 ...

on Saturday 1 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 92,147, was an unused Substitute in the 9–18 defeat by Hull F.C. in the

Final replay during the 1981–82 season at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on Wednesday 19 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 41,171, Australia played a match against Widnes during the

1982 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France The 1982 Kangaroo tour was the fifteenth Kangaroo tour where the Australian national rugby league team played a number of matches against British and French rugby league teams, in addition to the Rugby league#Competitions, Test matches. The Aust ...

and Myler played at loose forward. In 1983 he was awarded the

Harry Sunderland Trophy The Harry Sunderland Trophy was awarded annually to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final and its predecessors, the RFL First Division Final and the Premiership Final, between 1965 and 2023. Named after Harry Sunderland, who w ...

for man-of-the-match in that year's Premiership Final. During the 1983–84 season Myler played stand-off half in

' loss against Barrow in the 1983 Lancashire Cup Final at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

on Saturday 1 October 1983. In 1986 Myler agreed to join Australian club, the

during the English off-season as his Great Britain test teammate

Garry Schofield Garry Edward Schofield OBE (born 1 July 1965) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and is a member of the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. At the time of his retirement he was the most- ...

had done. During the

1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France The 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France was the sixteenth Kangaroo tour in which the Australian national rugby league team (known as the Winfield Kangaroos due to sponsorship) plays a number of tour matches against British and Frenc ...

, Myler played for Great Britain at stand-off half in all three Ashes tests. Myler played at in

' 6–12 loss against

in the

1988–89 John Player Special Trophy The 1988–89 John Player Special Trophy was the eighteenth season for the competition (named as such due to sponsorship from John Player & Sons). Wigan won the final, beating Widnes by the score of 12-6. The match was played at Burnden Park, B ...

Final during the 1988–89 season at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of England, English association football, football club Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup final replay, in 1946 it was the sc ...

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

on Saturday 7 January 1989. During the

1989–90 Rugby Football League season The 1989–90 Rugby Football League season was the 95th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Fourteen teams competed from August, 1989 until May, 1990 for the Stones Bitter Championship, Premiership Trophy and Silk Cut ...

, he played for defending champions Widnes at stand-off half in their

1989 World Club Challenge The 1989 World Club Challenge (known for sponsorship reasons as the Foster's World Club Challenge) was the third ever and first official World Club Challenge match. 1989's NSWRL season premiers, the Canberra Raiders travelled to England to play ...

victory against the visiting

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

. Myler's

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 ...

also took place in 1989. During the 1990–91 season Myler

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

ed Widnes at stand-off half and scored a try in the 24–18 victory over

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, ...

in the

1990 Lancashire Cup Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno D ...

Final at

on Saturday 29 September 1990.

Coaching

Following his retirement from playing, Myler became coach of Widnes in May 1994. In August 1995 the club decided to bring back Doug Laughton for a third stint as team manager which resulted in Myler's sacking as coach. Myler was also on the coaching staff at St. Helens and

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 early years of

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 ...

References

External links

Tony Myler at yesterdayshero.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myler, Tony 1960 births Living people Balmain Tigers players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Widnes St Helens R.F.C. coaches Warrington Wolves coaches Widnes Vikings captains Widnes Vikings coaches Widnes Vikings players 20th-century English sportsmen