Mark Flanagan (rugby league)
Encyclopedia
Mark Flanagan
Mark Flanagan (born December 4, 1987 in Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...

, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

, is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 player for St Helens RLFC in the European Super League. He normally plays at Loose-Forward. He previously played for the Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

 in the European Super League. He is the son of former Great Britain international Terry Flanagan
Terry Flanagan (rugby league)
Terry Flanagan is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1970s and '80s who at representative level has played for Great Britain, and Lancashire, and at club level for Oldham, playing at , or , i.e...

.

Early career

Mark started his rugby league career at the amateur side Saddleworth Rangers before joining the Bradford Bulls Academy
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

 when he was 16. He is one of the most promising young British players and has caps for England Academy including caps against the Australian Schoolboys in 2006.

Wigan Warriors

On 4 January 2007 it was announced that Mark would join the Wigan Warriors on a 2-year contract with Wigan paying £10,900 in compensation
Payment
A payment is the transfer of wealth from one party to another. A payment is usually made in exchange for the provision of goods, services or both, or to fulfill a legal obligation....

 to Bradford for the loss of the player. He was signed to provide cover and possible become a replacement to Australian stand off Trent Barrett
Trent Barrett
Trent Barrett is an Australian retired professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s...

. Mark was the third player that Brian Noble
Brian Noble (rugby league)
Brian 'Nobby' D. Noble is an English former rugby league footballer. Noble is also the former coach of the Great Britain National Rugby League team. He was also the captain of the 1984 Great Britain touring team to Australia...

 had brought from his previous club Bradford Bulls, the other players being Stuart Fielden
Stuart Fielden
Stuart Fielden is an English professional rugby league footballer for Wigan of Super League...

 and Michael Withers
Michael Withers
Michael Withers is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s who represented at international level for Ireland. He played club football in Australia for the Balmain Tigers of the National Rugby League, and in England with Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls of...

. Flanagan was a regular in the Wigan reserves team. He went to Halifax
Halifax RLFC
Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, blue shorts and blue socks . They share The Shay stadium with football club FC Halifax Town...

 on loan in June 2008 and scored two tries in his first game for the club.

After some impressive performances in the reserves Flanagan made his Wigan Warriors debut from the bench during the second half of a 22-16 defeat to the Crusaders at Brewery Field
Brewery Field
Brewery Field is a 8,000 capacity sports stadium in Bridgend, Wales 1,100 of which is seated capacity...

. He made more appearances for the Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

 putting in some very impressive performances, most noticeably for his defensive effort in the derby loss away at St.Helens.

Wests Tigers

It was announced 23 September 2009 that Flanagan had signed a 1 year contract with the Wests Tigers
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's mid-western suburbs. They have competed in the National Rugby League since they were formed at the end of the 1999 season as a joint-venture club between the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs...

, with the Tigers having the option for a further season. Tigers' recruitment manager Warren McDonnell described him as, "a raw talent," and, "a tough no-nonsense player with a strong work ethic." Flanagan played 21 games in his first season with the Tigers, mostly starting on the bench.

St Helens

It was confirmed on 19 July 2011 that St Helens had signed Flanagan on a 2 year contract, he will make the move before the start of the 2012 season. The move means that Flanagan will be reunited with Head Coach Royce Simmons
Royce Simmons
Royce Simmons is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player, currently the head coach of St Helens RLFC in the European Super League...

 who he previously worked with at West Tigers

External links

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