Danny McGuire
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Danny McGuire is an English rugby league player.
Danny has appeared for the England Academy, England U21 and England A. Danny was the star of the England Academy tour to New Zealand and Australia during the summer of 2001 and also went to South Africa with England Under 21 at the end of the season.
He has developed from there and played for England A in the 2003 European Nations and tour game against Australia. The game against the Kangaroos at Brentford saw McGuire catapulted to national acclaim and in 2004 he was recognised by the Great Britain selectors and was part of the Tri Nations squad. He was introduced as a substitute in the opening game against Australia, but was then given a starting place against New Zealand and his stepping run set up a crucial try for Stuart Reardon to help give Great Britain the 22-12 victory. In the final however Danny was again left on the bench for the start of the game and when he was brought on his side were already losing 26-0. Danny was one of the most exciting players not only for the Rhinos but in Super League in 2004 and expectations are high that the young stand off will be an important player for Great Britain for many years to come
Danny signed for the Rhinos from his local team East Leeds ARLFC and quickly gained a reputation as one of the most exciting players in British rugby league. It was in the Rhinos Academy that Danny began to show signs of his amazing ability, forming a devastating partnership with Rob Burrow and by 2002 he had earned a place in the Rhinos full time squad.
His Rhinos debut came against Salford in front of a home crowd, replacing Iestyn Harris, and from here the young stand-off has not looked back, with the epitome of his achievements to date coming in the Rhinos successful 2004 season. In the year that the team ended a 32 year wait for the Championship Danny was one of the sides outstanding performers, becoming the Rhinos top try scorer with 39 tries in all competitions and being the first Leeds player in almost half a century to score five tries in a match when the Rhinos beat Widnes. He was rewarded for his achievements when he was named Rugby League Writers Association Player of the Year as well as being included in the Tetley’s Super League Dream Team after narrowly missing out on being Super Leagues highest scorer by just one try to Bradford’s Lesley Vainikolo.
Not only has Danny proved he is a prolific try scorer he has also delighted Leeds fans on several occasions, with some spectacular tries. Some of the memorable highlights being two against St Helens in the 2003 Challenge Cup Semi Final, when he first of all set up extra time and then won the game off the bench, the winning try in the 2004 Super League Grand Final and the opening try in the Carnegie World Club Challenge win over Canterbury. In 2005 he scored 23 tries in 27 appearances, 12 off the bench, despite being restricted through injury at the start of the season. He has scored two hat tricks for the club, a four try haul last season against London at Headingley and that five try blitz against Widnes in 2004.
