Neil Turley

Neil Turley (born 15 March 1980) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played at representative level for England (Under-21s), and Lancashire, and at club level for Wigan Warriors (academy), and Leigh (Heritage № 1172), as a goal-kicking fullback, or stand-off.[2]

Neil Turley
Personal information
Born (1980-03-15) 15 March 1980[1]
England
Playing information
PositionFullback, Stand-off
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2000–06 Leigh Centurions 124 132 488 15 1519
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2001 England U21s 2 6 0 0 24
2001 Lancashire 1 1 0 0 4
Source: [2]

Early career

Neil started his career as a junior with Wigan Warriors, coming through their Academy set-up. As an Academy player he starred in the 1998 Academy Grand Final for Wigan in their defeat by Leeds Rhinos, who boasted such international stars as Kevin Sinfield and Rob Burrow.

His senior career was unlikely to prosper at Wigan as Turley played understudy to Great Britain fullback Kris Radlinski. Turley took the offer in 2000 to join Second Division side Leigh Centurions.[3] Neil's father, Norman Turley, was Leigh's assistant coach. After an impressive debut in a friendly game against Australia's South Sydney Rabbitohs in late 2000, Turley was selected as Leigh's starting fullback ahead of Simon Svabic.[4]

Debut season

His debut season as a senior player in 2001 saw Turley smash the world record for tries by a full back, ending the season with 55.[5] He also gained representative honours, playing in both England under-21 Tests against South Africa,[6][7] and played for Lancashire as the only player from a non-Super League club to play in the Origin series against rivals Yorkshire. His debut season featured a surprising Challenge Cup victory over Super League neighbours Salford City Reds, and saw Leigh finish nine points clear at the top of the Northern Ford Premiership and claim the short-lived Trans-Pennine Cup. Turley was the target of Warrington Wolves who tabled an offer to the Leigh club but Turley turned it down. However, the fantastic year was marred as defeat by Oldham in the play-off semi-final eventually saw the Widnes Vikings go onto win the Grand Final, and a place in the Super League.

Records

Turley broke many club records, including goals in a season and points in a season.[8][9] Yet the ultimate prize, Grand Final success, eluded Leigh. In 2002 and 2003, the relegated Super League sides, Huddersfield Giants and Salford City Reds remained fully professional teams. Thus, their full-time fitness and coaching led to defeat in successive Grand Finals for Leigh. When Halifax were relegated to play in the 2004 National League competition, their financial troubles meant they were unable to retain a full-time team and struggled, paving the way for Leigh to go about achieving their dream. Leigh defeated Whitehaven 32-16 after over-time to finally attain Super League status for 2005's Super League X.

Retirement

Turley announced his retirement in April 2006, due to a serious recurring back injury.[5] He made 122 appearances for Leigh, scoring 1,501 points, including 132 tries.[10]

Career Statistics
Club Season
LeagueAll AppsLeague AppsAll TriesLeague TriesAll GoalsLeague GoalsAll Field GoalsLeague Field GoalsAll PointsLeague Points
Leigh Centurions 2001 Northern Ford Premiership 31 28 55 52 12 12 0 0 244 232
Leigh Centurions 2002 Northern Ford Premiership 32 23 29 20 155 112 0 0 426 304
Leigh Centurions 2003 National League One 22 14 19 8 123 84 4 2 326 202
Leigh Centurions 2004 National League One 29 17 26 12 177 101 10 7 468 257
Leigh Centurions 2005 Super League X 10 9 3 2 20 19 1 1 53 47

References
  1. "England Under 21 Squad to tour South Africa". The Rugby Football League. 23 October 2001. Archived from the original on 2 March 2002. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/06/03/30/manual_085136.html, Sporting Life, TURLEY QUITS DUE TO INJURY, Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  4. Whalley, John (7 February 2001). "Turley seizes opportunity to set scoring standards". Telegraph. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  5. "All over for Neil". Leigh Reporter. 7 April 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  6. "Turley Spearheads Young Guns' Rout". Leighrl.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  7. Parkinson, Dave. "Turley scores again as GB U-21s run up another point haul". Leighrl.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  8. http://www.napit.co.uk/viewus/infobank/rugby/rugbyleaguediv1/leigh.php, napit, Leigh Centurions RLFC All Time Records, Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  9. http://www.leighcenturions.com/page.php?id=585 Archived 27 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Leigh Centurions, Club History Landmarks - Recent History, 2003, Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  10. "Leigh ace Turley forced to retire". BBC Sport. 30 March 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
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