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| Full name | Malcolm John Reilly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1948-01-19)19 January 1948 (age 77) Barkston Ash district,Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Loose forward | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Malcolm John ReillyOBE (born 19 January 1948) is an English formerrugby league player andcoach. He played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He played at representative level forGreat Britain,England andYorkshire, and at club level forCastleford (two spells) in England, andManly-Warringah Sea Eagles in Australia, as aloose forward,[3]
He coached at representative level forGreat Britain, and at club level forCastleford,Leeds,Halifax,Huddersfield Giants andHull Kingston Rovers in England,[6][7] andNewcastle Knights in Australia, taking them to their first premiership in 1997.[6][7] In 2014 he was inaugurated into the British Rugby League Hall of Fame.
Reilly debuted forCastleford during the1967–68 season, scoring a try in an 8–10 defeat againstHunslet in September 1967.[8][9] Later that season, he won his first honours with the club, playing atloose forward in Castleford's 8–5 victory overLeigh in the1967 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final atHeadingley,Leeds on Tuesday 16 January 1968.
During the1968–69 season, Reilly playedloose forward in Castleford's 11–22 defeat byLeeds in the1968–69 Yorkshire Cup Final atBelle Vue,Wakefield, on Saturday 19 October 1968, and playedloose forward, and won theLance Todd Trophy in Castleford’s 11–6 victory overSalford in the1968–69 Challenge Cup final atWembley Stadium,London on Saturday 17 May 1969.[10]
In the1969–70 season, Reilly playedloose forward in the 7–2 victory overWigan in the1969–70 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 9 May 1970.[11]
After three seasons withManly, Reilly returned to Castleford in 1974. He playedsecond-row in the 4-12 defeat by Leigh in the1976 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final atHilton Park on Tuesday 14 December 1976.
He playedsecond-row in the 11–22 defeat by Leeds in the1977–78 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1977–78 season atHeadingley Rugby Stadium,Leeds on Saturday 15 October 1977, and playedprop in the 2–13 defeat byHull F.C. in the1983–84 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1983–84 season atElland Road, Leeds on Saturday 15 October 1983.
He later became aTigers Hall Of Fame Inductee.[12]
After Reilly had starred for Great Britain in their triumphant 1970 Australasian Tour in which they succeeded in winningThe Ashes (the last time that Great Britain has won The Ashes), he returned to play for Castleford and was selected for Great Britain during the 1970 World Cup. Managing the Australian team in the World Cup wasManly-Warringah Sea Eagles club secretaryKen Arthurson who made it a priority to sign Reilly and bring him toSydney to play for theBrookvale based club. His signing proved a boon for Manly as his skills and toughness added to an already strong Manly forward pack (Manly had played in the1970 Grand Final). Reilly helped them to their first premiership in1972 when they defeated theEastern Suburbs Roosters 19-14. Manly would repeat the feat and became premiers in1973. He thus became only the third Englishman (after Dick Huddart and David Bolton) to play in a grand final-winning team in Australia.[13]
Early in the 1973 Grand Final against theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks (playing their first Grand Final), a team which was captain-coached by Reilly's former Great Britain team mateTommy Bishop, and also included former Lions propCliff Watson, Reilly was felled late by Sharks hookerRon "Rocky" Turner after putting in a mid-field chip kick (Turner had already targeted him once and just missed him only a minute into the game). Clearly hobbled with a badly bruised hip, Reilly went off for pain killing injections. As it was clear he would not last out the match, Manly coachRon Willey gave the Englishman the instructions to go out and cause as much physical damage to the Sharks players as he could before he could go no further. After carrying out Willey's instructions, Reilly was replaced after 25 minutes byJohn Bucknell.
As for the match itself, the brilliance of Manly centreBob Fulton was the difference between the two sides as the Sea Eagles won 10-7. The game has often been described as the roughest, dirtiest Grand Final in Sydney premiership history, with several all-in brawls (usually started by Bishop before retreating behind his pack) causing referee Keith Page to caution both teams repeatedly, though strangely he did not send anyone from the field despite repeated warnings that he would do so (according to Bishop, at one stage Keith Page allegedly threatened to take Manly second rowerPeter Peters out the back of theSydney Cricket Ground after the game and 'sort him out' for calling him a cheat). Leading journalist Ian Heads described the match in theSunday Telegraph the next day as:"It was a Grand Final as tough and dirty as any bar-room brawl".[14]
40 Years after that Grand Final, Sharks coach Tommy Bishop admitted that they did in fact target Reilly, knowing just how dangerous a player he was. Bishop also lamented the fact that while his game preparation focused on targeting his former International team mate, he somehow managed to forget about the danger that was Bob Fulton.[15]
Although Manly made the finals in both1974 and1975, they were unable to repeat their premiership success. Mal Reilly would return to Castleford after the 1975 Australian season. Ironically, Ken Arthurson then signed two more Great Britain back row forwards for1976. Second rowerPhil Lowe, and lock forwardSteve "Knocker" Norton who bore an uncanny resemblance to Reilly, as well as Castleford halfbackGary Stephens. Manly would win their 3rd Sydney premiership in 1976.[16]
During his time at Manly, Mal Reilly was team mates with players who themselves would go on to become legends of the game including Bob Fulton,Graham Eadie,Ray Branighan,Fred Jones,John O'Neill,Terry Randall, and legendary try scoring wingerKen Irvine.[17]
Reilly woncaps forEngland while at Castleford in 1970 againstWales andFrance, and in 1977 against Wales (sub),[4] and woncaps forGreat Britain while at Castleford in 1970 againstAustralia (3 matches), andNew Zealand (3 matches), and in the1970 Rugby League World Cup against Australia, France, and Australia.[5]
Reilly was part of the victorious Great Britain touring team that defeated Australia in theAshes series during the1970 Great Britain Lions tour. As of 2015 this remains the last time Great Britain or England has won The Ashes. Australia regained The Ashes during the1973 Kangaroo tour, and have not lost them since.
Reilly representedYorkshire while at Castleford in 1968 against Cumberland and Lancashire.[18]
After retiring from playing, Reilly went on to coach Castleford, Leeds,Halifax,Great Britain, and theNewcastle Knights in Australia.
Reilly was the coach inCastleford's 15-14 victory overHull Kingston Rovers in the1985–86 Challenge Cup Final during the1985–86 season atWembley Stadium,London on Saturday 3 May 1986, in front of a crowd of 82,134.[19]
In 1987 he succeededMaurice Bamford as theGreat Britain Lions' head coach and opened his reign as with six wins, four againstFrance, and two overPapua New Guinea. He was included in the1991 Birthday Honours. He stood down as Great Britain's coach in 1994.
Reilly would coach the Lions on their1988 Oceania tour, defeating Papua New Guinea andNew Zealand, but losing The Ashes to Australia. In thedead rubber third Ashes Test at theSydney Football Stadium, Great Britain defeated Australia 26–12 for the Lions first win over the Aussies since1978 ending a streak of 15 straight wins. His Lions then defeated the touring New Zealand in 1989 before the Lions toured Papua New Guinea and New Zealand in1990. The Lions drew the 2 game series with PNG before defeating the Kiwis 2–1. Back home in England, the Lions then faced the1990 Kangaroos, now coached by former Manly team mate Bob Fulton. After winning the first test over the Australian's at Wembley (giving the Lions 2 straight wins over Australia after having won the 3rd test of the 1988 series), Reilly's men came within 10 minutes of winning The Ashes for the first time since 1970, but it was not to be as Australia would win the second and third tests. After wins over France and the touring Papua New Guinea side in 1991, Reilly then coached his record 3rd Lions tour in1992. After defeating the Kumuls inPort Moresby, the Lions then again pushed the Fulton coached Australian's, including recording their largest win over Australia in Australia with a stunning 33–10 win inMelbourne, though ultimately the Aussie's again won The Ashes 2–1. Britain then drew their series with New Zealand 1–all, Losing the first test 15–14 before winning the second 19–16 to end the tour on a high note.[20]
The Lions win in the 2nd test inAuckland also assured them a place in the1992 Rugby League World Cup final against Australia in October. As the top qualifier over the4 year World Cup tournament, the game was to be played in Australia. However theAustralian Rugby League (headed by Ken Arthurson) agreed to have the game moved to the larger Wembley Stadium which at 82,000 had a spectator capacity almost twice as much as the largest Australian venue, the 42,500 seat Sydney Football Stadium. This also gave Mal Reilly's team home ground advantage. In a tense Final played in front of a then international rugby league record attendance of 73,631 fans, Australian débutante centreSteve Renouf scored the only try of the game to give the Aussies a hard fought 10–6 win after the Lions had led 6–4 at half time.[21] Reilly would then go on to win his final 6 games as Great Britain coach, achieving 3 wins over France and sweeping New Zealand 3–0 during their1993 European tour.
Reilly coached just oneEngland game; a 36-11 win overWales on 27 Nov 1992 atVetch Field, Swansea.
Reilly quit as Great Britain coach in early 1994 (his place was taken by former Lions captainEllery Hanley who was still playing forLeeds at the time). He then took over as coach of Australian club; theNewcastle Knights for the1995 ARL season, and their results improved markedly. He later coached them to their firstgrand final at the end of the1997 ARL season which they won when they defeated his old club anddefending Premiers Manly (coached by Bob Fulton) 22–16 after wingerDarren Albert scored a try under the posts with only seconds remaining.
In 2001 Reilly's book,Reilly: A Life in Rugby League was published. His coaching career continued but he had less success as head coach of theHuddersfield Giants, who finished bottom ofSuper League under his stewardship. He left theLeeds Rhinos at the end of the 2003'sSuper League VIII following a major coaching re-structuring. In December 2004, theHull Kingston Rovers appointed Mal Reilly as director of rugby and first team coach. However, Reilly left the club midway through the season.
Reilly was the coach in Castleford's 18-22 defeat byHull Kingston Rovers in the1985–86 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1985–86 season at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds on Sunday 27 October 1985, was the coach in the 31-24 victory overHull F.C. in the1986–87 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1986–87 season at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds on Saturday 11 October 1986, and was the coach in the 13-33 defeat by Leeds in the1988–89 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1988–89 season at Elland Road, Leeds on Sunday 16 October 1988.
In a 2017 video interview with Rugby AM, Reilly named the best XIII that he had ever coached. That side was:[22]
Robbie O'Davis (Newcastle),Martin Offiah (Great Britain),John Joyner (Castleford),Keith Senior (Great Britain),Jason Robinson (Great Britain),Garry Schofield (Leeds, Great Britain),Andrew Johns (Newcastle),Paul Harragon (Newcastle),Kevin Beardmore (Castleford),Kevin Ward (Castleford, Great Britain),Adam Muir (Newcastle),Denis Betts (Great Britain),Ellery Hanley (Great Britain).
Reilly used to work as a sales representative in theNewcastle, New South Wales area, but lives in the UK once again.
Arriva Yorkshire honoured 13 rugby league footballers on Thursday 20 August 2009, at a ceremony atThe Jungle, the home of theCastleford Tigers. A fleet of new buses were named after the 'Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team'. Members of the public nominated the best ever rugby league footballers to have played in West Yorkshire, supported by local rugby league journalists;James Deighton from BBC Leeds, and Tim Butcher, editor ofRugby League World. The 'Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team' included Reilly.[23]
Malcolm Reilly & Ian Heads (1998).Reilly: a life in rugby league. Ironbark.ISBN 9780330361200.
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| Preceded by | Rugby League Transfer Record Castlefordto  Manly-Warringah1971–72 | Succeeded by |
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