Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Dean Lawrence Lance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1959-04-04)4 April 1959 (age 65) Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 80 kg (12 st 8 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Five-eighth, Centre, Lock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dean Lance (born 4 April 1959[1]) is an Australian former professionalrugby league footballer and coach, and current football manager at theNorth Queensland Cowboys of theNRL. He played in theNew South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in the 1980s for theNewtown andCanberra clubs, captaining the Raiders for almost 5 years and winning two premierships with them. After playing he coached Super League clubs in Australia (theWestern Reds and theAdelaide Rams) and in England (theLeeds Rhinos).
Acentre/five-eighth hailing fromNarrabri, New South Wales, an eighteen-year-old Lance played representative rugby league for Newcastle in their comprehensive 29–0 victory overFrance in 1977[2] before playing in the NSWRFL. He started playing first grade in the Sydney premiership in 1982 for the Newtown Jets, but at the end of the following year the club exited the competition. Lance moved to theCanberra Raiders and after a few games in lime green was moved to theback row, where he established a reputation as one of the hardest workers in the NSWRL, despite conceding 10 kilograms (1 st 8 lb) in weight to most rivals. Lance was named captain of the Raiders in 1986 and played in his first Grand Final for Canberra in 1987. In 1989 the captaincy of the club was handed over toMal Meninga, but Lance played in his second grand final, this time winning the premiership. In the post season he travelled with the Raiders to England for the1989 World Club Challenge which was lost toWidnes.The following season was to be Lance's last as a player, but he went out on a high note, with a second consecutive premiership victory.
Lance's coaching career began as reserve grade coach at Canberra in 1992, later being promoted to assistant coach.[3] He took over fromPeter Mulholland at thePerth Reds in the1997 Super League season. The club was shut down at the end of that season so he signed as coach of theAdelaide Rams in the first year of theNational Rugby League competition followingRod Reddy's dismissal. That was to be the final season for the Adelaide club as well, so again Lance was left without a team to coach. He moved to England and became coach of theLeeds Rhinos club in theSuper League in November 1999,[4] succeeding fellow AustralianGraham Murray. He served there for three seasons, achieving mixed results and having a less than perfect relationship with the club. Just four matches into the 2001 season, Lance parted from the Leeds Rhinos "by mutual consent".[5]
After returning to Australia, Lance took on a football manager's role at theMelbourne Storm club, working with coach and former Canberra teammate,Craig Bellamy.[6] Following the Storm's premiership victory in 2007, Lance moved to theNorth Queensland Cowboys club, also as football manager.
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by Ron Giteau 1984–1985 | Captain Canberra Raiders 1985–1989 | Succeeded by Mal Meninga 1989–1994 |
| Preceded by Peter Mulholland 1995–1997 | Coach Perth Reds 1997 | Succeeded by N/A |
| Preceded by Rod Reddy 1997–1998 | Coach Adelaide Rams 1998 | Succeeded by N/A |
| Preceded by Graham Murray 1997–1999 | Coach Leeds Rhinos 1999–2001 | Succeeded by Daryl Powell 2001–2003 |