Shaun Ainscough
Encyclopedia
Shaun Ainscough is an English professional 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...

 footballer, currently playing for the Bradford Bulls
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....

 of the Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

.His preferred position is on the wing. Since 2009
Super League XIV
The 2009 Super League season is the fourteenth season of rugby league since the Super League format was introduced in 1996...

, Ainscough has been playing for the Wigan club, where he started his professional career.

He caused a sensation by scoring sixteen tries in his first ten professional games, becoming the league's leading try scorer at one point.

Early life

Ainscough's first experience of competitive rugby league football came through Wigan St Judes ARLFC. He remained at the amateur club until 2006, when he gained a scholarship to join the academy of his hometown professional club, 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....

. His first game for the academy came in a Junior Academy Championship fixture at Hilton Park
Hilton Park (stadium)
Hilton Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. It was the home of Leigh Centurions rugby league club and Leigh Genesis F.C. association football club...

 against the Leigh Centurions
Leigh Centurions
Leigh Centurions is an English professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester who play in the Co-operative Championship.The club was founded in 1878 as Leigh Rugby Football Club and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in...

, playing at wing
Rugby league positions
A rugby league football team consists of thirteen players on the field, with four substitutes on the bench. Players are divided into two general categories: "forwards" and "backs"....

. Ainscough marked this appearance by also scoring his first try in a Wigan jersey. He was rotated into different positions throughout his academy career, playing at centre for a repeat match against Leigh seven weeks later, as well as fullback against Harlequins RL the game after that. On both occasions, Ainscough scored tries, earning one and two tries in each game respectively. However, his first competitive hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

 came playing on the left wing in a play-off game against the Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...

. During his time with the academy in 2007, Ainscough also played two matches at senior level, once against Hull, and once against Harlequins RL, scoring a try in the latter fixture.

His energetic style on the wing was noted by the club's coaches, and this continued to impress officials inside the club and out, leading to him earning a place for the England under-17s team during the Australian Institute of Sport
Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport is a sports training institution in Australia with world class facilities and support services. The Institute's headquarters is situated in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The 66.0 hectare site campus is in the northern suburb of Bruce, but some of the...

's tour of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 2007. The second test of this series ended with a victory for the England team winning 38–22, thanks in no small part to a hat-trick of tries from Ainscough, and another from Richard Myler, who would also go on to prominence in the Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

 with fellow Mancunian
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...

 side, Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...

.

Although he was not yet officially a part of the Wigan Warriors first team, his debut appearance for the club was in a friendly match against Bradford Bulls
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....

 in January 2008, wearing shirt number 31. It was a successful start for the then-eighteen year old, scoring two of Wigan's five tries, each of them either side of the half-time break in a match the Warriors won 16–28. The twenty-man teamsheets for two other pre-season friendlies against Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

 and Widnes Vikings in 2008 also included Ainscough as an interchange, but he was never utilised in either game.

The start of 2008 saw Ainscough being promoted from the academy sides to the reserve side, just one level below the first team. By coincidence, his first appearance and first try for the reserves was away against the Leigh Centurions, as they had also been for his academy career, although this time, he played at fullback, not wing. The rest of the year saw five official appearances for Ainscough, scoring five tries including another hat-trick, this time against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...

. He also made four appearances in the Gillette Academy championship, scoring five tries.

His efforts in the reserves earned him a place in a pre-season friendly during the Christmas season
Christmas season
Christmastide is one of the seasons of the liturgical year of most Christian churches. It tends to be defined as the period from Christmas Eve to the evening of 5 January, the day before Epiphany...

 of 2008 against Warrington Wolves, in which Ainscough picked up a try following a pass from Cameron Phelps
Cameron Phelps
Cameron Phelps is an Australian rugby league player for Hull in the European Super League competition...

. It was his last match before being selected for the first team in 2009. In the whole of his career prior to starting first-class rugby league for Wigan, he appeared in 32 academy and reserve fixtures, of which 24 were won, with Ainscough personally scoring 28 tries.

Debut season

Ainscough was promoted into 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....

 first team on 22 January after receiving the number 28 shirt, which previously belonged to fellow academy product Sam Tomkins
Sam Tomkins
A pre-season unofficial friendly match provided Tomkins his first experience against top-flight opposition as he came off the bench during Lee Briers' testimonial match in a 30–22 loss to Warrington Wolves. Noble followed this up by providing Tomkins, aged 19, with his first team debut on 12 May...

 the season before. His first Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

 game was in a 22–28 home defeat to Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club based in Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. They participate in the professional European competition Super League. They are sometimes known as 'Cas', 'Cas Tigers', 'Classy Cas' or the 'Black & Amber'...

, a match in which he scored his first Super League try which looked to have given Wigan a chance of winning the match until Castleford scored another try through Michael Shenton
Michael Shenton
Michael Shenton , is an English professional rugby league footballer currently playing for St. Helens in the Super League. An England international representative , he previously played for the Castleford Tigers before moving to St...

.
However, Ainscough made a lasting contribution in his next appearance against Harlequins RL at the Twickenham Stoop
The Stoop
Twickenham Stoop is a sports stadium located in the western suburbs of London, England. The stadium is home to Harlequins rugby union team, who play in the Aviva Premiership, and tenants London Broncos, who play in the Super League...

, in which he and Amos Roberts
Amos Roberts
Amos Roberts is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for English club Wigan Warriors of Super League. A country New South Wales representative prolific try-scoring back, he previously played in Australasia's National Rugby League for the St...

 scored late in the match to give Wigan their first home win of the 2009 Super League season
Super League XIV
The 2009 Super League season is the fourteenth season of rugby league since the Super League format was introduced in 1996...

. Ainscough then featured in the Wigan team that defeated Bradford
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....

 by 34 points at the JJB Stadium
JJB Stadium
The DW Stadium is a sports stadium in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, that is home to Wigan Athletic football club and Wigan Warriors rugby league club....

, before scoring a try on the way to a defeat at Leeds
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...

 the week after.

An away win to Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...

 in which he personally contributed two tries was to be the last win in the Super League for some weeks for Ainscough. Although a home defeat against Huddersfield
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are a professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who play in the European Super League competition. They play their home games at the Galpharm Stadium which is shared with Huddersfield Town F.C....

 was followed by a hat-trick performance at Barrow
Barrow Raiders
Barrow Raiders are an English professional rugby league team from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, who are coached by Dave Clark. Formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club, the club is the oldest of the current professional sports teams in Cumbria....

 in the 2009 Challenge Cup
2009 Challenge Cup
The 2009 Carnegie Challenge Cup began in January 2009. The Challenge Cup is the most prestigious knock-out competition in European rugby league. Teams from England, Scotland, Wales, France and Russia are included in the tournament....

 (a game in which the Warriors were pushed hard by Barrow), two further defeats at home to St Helens and away to the Catalans Dragons
Catalans Dragons
The Catalans Dragons are a French professional rugby league club based in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales. They currently play in the Super League, and are the only team in the competition from outside of the United Kingdom...

 in Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...

 forced Wigan coach 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...

 into changing the squad around, and even though Ainscough had contributed the only two tries of the night for Wigan against St Helens, he found himself out of the new squad, with Noble favouring Pat Richards
Pat Richards
Pat Richards is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Wigan Warriors of Europe's Super League. An Ireland and Exiles international representative winger, he previously played in the National Rugby League for Sydney clubs the Parramatta Eels and Wests Tigers, winning the 2005...

 and Amos Roberts on the wings
Rugby league positions
A rugby league football team consists of thirteen players on the field, with four substitutes on the bench. Players are divided into two general categories: "forwards" and "backs"....

 with George Carmont
George Carmont
George Carmont is a professional rugby league footballer for the Wigan Warriors of the Super League competition...

 and new Warrington-signing Martin Gleeson
Martin Gleeson
Martin Gleeson is an English professional rugby league footballer, who plays for Hull in the Super League. A Great Britain and England international representative , and /, he previously played for Wigan Warriors, Huddersfield Giants, St. Helens and Warrington...

 at centre, and Cameron Phelps
Cameron Phelps
Cameron Phelps is an Australian rugby league player for Hull in the European Super League competition...

 at fullback for the Warriors' next game against Crusaders.

The brief hiatus broke the very next game, however, as Ainscough (who had been omitted from the initial nineteen-man teamsheet) was called up late to replace a tonsillitis
Tonsillitis
Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils most commonly caused by viral or bacterial infection. Symptoms of tonsillitis include sore throat and fever. While no treatment has been found to shorten the duration of viral tonsillitis, bacterial causes are treatable with antibiotics...

-stricken George Carmont. He personally ran-in four tries to secure a 26–40 victory against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...

 at Belle Vue
Belle Vue (Wakefield)
Belle Vue is a rugby league stadium in Wakefield, England. It is the home stadium of Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. It is located beside the A638 Doncaster Road, approximately one mile south of Wakefield City Centre.- Description :Currently, the East stand has a covered stand with seating, with some...

, to the praise of commentators in the British mainstream national newspapers, and drawing comparisons to the Wigan legend, Martin Offiah
Martin Offiah
Martin Offiah MBE is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer.He is known as "Chariots" Offiah after the film Chariots of Fire...

. The match brought his Super League tally of tries for the season to thirteen, the most of anyone in the league by that point. Despite this, Ainscough has only appeared in two more matches to date – an away defeat to Warrington, and another away defeat to Celtic Crusaders.

His capabilities in defence drew criticism from some coaches, not least his own coach at Wigan. Following the game at Wakefield, Noble stated that, "there are other parts of his game he needs to improve." In a pre-match interview before the Magic Weekend
Magic Weekend
The Magic Weekend, previously Millennium Magic, is a concept by the Rugby Football League to stage an entire round of Super League matches in prestigious and exciting cities to showcase the sport....

 in Round 12, St Helens coach Mick Potter stated he was a target for high kicks, with the belief that Ainscough's opposite winger Ade Gardner
Ade Gardner
Adrian Antonio Gardner is an English professional rugby league footballer for St. Helens of Super League. A Great Britain representative winger, he previously played for Barrow Raiders. He is the older brother of Ex-Salford City Reds winger, Mat Gardner.Gardner went to St Columba's Roman...

, the leading try scorer in the 2008 Super League season
Super League XIII
Engage Super League XIII was the official name, due to sponsorship, for the 2008 Super League season by Engage Mutual. Twelve teams competed for the Minor Premiership over 27 rounds after which, the top 6 finishing teams entered the play-offs where they competed for a place in the Grand Final and...

, would put him under pressure. It was a game Ainscough did not eventually play in.

After losing his place, Ainscough continued to play in the reserves, although in August it was confirmed he had suffered scaphoid wrist damage
Scaphoid fracture
A scaphoid fracture is the most common type of wrist fracture. Scaphoid fractures usually cause pain at the base of the thumb accompanied by swelling in the same area. Scaphoid fractures usually cause pain and sensitivity to palpation in the anatomic snuffbox at the base of the thumb accompanied...

 and as a result would possibly be out for the rest of the 2009 season.

2010 season

Ainscough recovered from injury, and in December 2009, he was confirmed as a player in Wigan's first team for the 2010 season. Before the 2010 season started, Wigan signed a dual registration agreement with Co-operative Championship side Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...

 for Ainscough and his team-mate, Liam Farrell
Liam Farrell
Liam Farrell is an English rugby league player for the Wigan Warriors in the European Super League. He plays in the second-row or at loose forward. He is the cousin of former Warriors player Andy Farrell.-2010 season:...

. The agreement allowed Ainscough to play for Widnes whenever a place in Wigan's seventeen-man squad was unavailable, with the exception of Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

 matches. Ainscough was recalled from Widnes and has since joined the Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club based in Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. They participate in the professional European competition Super League. They are sometimes known as 'Cas', 'Cas Tigers', 'Classy Cas' or the 'Black & Amber'...

 on an initial one month loan. Shaun has now agreed to stay at castleford for the whole of the 2010 season.

2011 season

Ainscough signed a 1 year contract at the end of the 2010 season to play for Bradford Bulls
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....

 in 2011. He appeared in two of the four pre-season games, firstly against Halifax RLFC
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...

 and then Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...

. In the regular season, he featured in eight consecutive games from Round 3 (Crusaders RL) to Round 10 (Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...

). His next appearance was in Round 13 (Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

). He recovered from surgury to play in Round 26 (Crusaders RL) and Round 27 (Wakefield Wildcats).

External links

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