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| Full name | Francis Myler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1938-12-04)4 December 1938 Widnes, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 27 March 2020(2020-03-27) (aged 81) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Stand-off | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Frank Myler (4 December 1938 – 27 March 2020) was an English former professionalrugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, andcoached in the 1970s and 1980s. AGreat Britain andEngland national representativecentre orstand-off, he played at club level forWidnes andSt. Helens, and also captained and coachedGreat Britain.
Myler played left-centre and scored atry inWidnes' 13–5 victory overHull Kingston Rovers in the1963–64 Challenge Cup Final atWembley Stadium,London on Saturday 9 May 1964, in front of a crowd of 84,488. Myler played left-centre in St. Helens' 30–2 victory overOldham in the1968–69 Lancashire Cup Final atCentral Park,Wigan on Friday 25 October 1968. Myler played at left-centre in St. Helens' 4–7 defeat byWigan in the1968 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final at Central Park,Wigan on Tuesday 17 December 1968.[4]
In the1969–70 Northern Rugby Football League season's Championship Final Myler was votedman of the match winning theHarry Sunderland Trophy in St. Helens 24–12 victory overLeeds. In 1970, he captained the Lions squad. Following a heavy defeat in the first Test the Lions under Myler did not lose another game on the whole tour. Myler remains the last British captain to lift the Ashes trophy in Australia. He playedstand-off in the 4–7 defeat byLeigh in the1970–71 Lancashire Cup Final atStation Road, Swinton on Saturday 28 November 1970. Myler left St. Helens in 1971 to take up the position ofplayer-coach with theRochdale Hornets from May 1971 until October 1974.[5]
After three seasons at Rochdale where he took the team to thePlayers No 6 trophy final, although they lost 27–16 toWarrington, Myler succeededVince Karalius as Widnes coach in May 1975. In May 1978 he was succeeded as Widnes coach byDoug Laughton.[6] After periods coaching at Oldham and Swinton Myler was appointed Great Britain coach in 1983 but after some early successes the team lost all six test matches to Australia and New Zealand during the1984 Great Brian Lions tour and despite a win over Papua New Guinea in the last test of the tour Myler was not reappointed as coach. Thereafter, he returned to club coaching with Oldham and a second spell at Widnes.[5]
Myler coachedEngland for one fixture beatingWales 60-13 on 28 May 1978.
Myler was one of the original thirteen former Widnes players inducted into theWidnes Hall of Fame in 1992.[7]
Myler died on 27 March 2020 after a long illness, aged 81.[8]
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