Brian Carney (rugby footballer)
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Carney | |
| Date of birth | July 23, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Cork, Ireland | |
| Height | 1.80 m | |
| Weight | 91 kg | |
| Position | Wing | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 1999 - 2000 2000 2001 - 2005 2006 2007 |
Gateshead Hull FC Wigan Newcastle Munster |
88 (138) 26 (64) |
| Representative teams | ||
| 2000 - 2006 2003 - 2006 |
Ireland Great Britain |
|
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
||
Brian Carney (born 23 July 1976 in Cork, Ireland) is a rugby union player for Munster. He joined Munster in 2007, having previously played rugby league for the Wigan Warriors in Super League (Europe) and the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League, among others.
Carney played Gaelic football for Valleymount G.F.C. and won a junior championship medal in 1998 with the club. He also played rugby union at Clongowes Wood College. His first rugby league experience came with Irish amateurs Dublin Blues. He first made an impression on the rugby league scene playing for the Irish Students side in a home international tournament in 1998. His impressive form led to a number of Super League clubs vying for his talents and he opted to sign with Gateshead Thunder. He played for Gateshead in the 1999 season and moved with them to Hull FC after the clubs merged in 2000.
Brian moved to Wigan Warriors at the end of the 2000 Super League season. He had come to the attention of the Wigan board when he scored a try against Wigan in Gateshead's Super League On The Road victory at Tynecastle. Future Wigan scrum-half Willie Peters, also shone in the same match.
Since making the professional ranks, Carney, who is a qualified lawyer, has been a regular in the senior colours of Ireland and featured heavily in the Lincoln Financial World Cup of 2000.
Brian signed a new three-year contract with Wigan in May 2003, ending speculation that had been linking him with a move to Irish rugby union. After signing the deal, Brian commented: "I love it here at Wigan. I never wanted to play for any other club. "I just want to get better and better each week and keep my place in the first team. The spirit and friendship at this club is brilliant and I need to be part of it."
His arrival at Wigan was initially hampered by injury but when he did break into the team, he was impressive and forced himself into the 2003 Great Britain Ashes squad. Carney made his GB debut in the First Test played at the JJB Stadium, becoming the first Irishman to play for GB since Tom McKinney in 1957. Despite injury, Brian was included in Great Britain's 2004 Tri-Nations squad.
Brian was selected for the 2003 Origin match after opting to play for Lancashire. He was also included in the 2003 Super League 'Dream Team' and the 2003 Rugby League World magazine World XIII, and voted BBC North West's Rugby League Player of the Year in the same season.
In June 2005 Brian agreed to join new NRL franchise Gold Coast at the end of his current Wigan contract. Upon signing the deal, Gold Coast managing director Michael Searle told NRL's official website, www.nrl.com: "The guy genuinely wanted to come here. He wants to challenge himself in the National Rugby League". Brian was to remain at the Warriors for the 2006 season, but a month later he agreed a release from the final year of his Wigan contract to play in the NRL with the Newcastle Knights. At the time Carney commented: "I'm very grateful to Wigan, they didn't have to do it (release him from his contract) but I explained my desire to get there because I feel time is running out."
Carney scored 16 tries in 26 games for the Knights, including guiding his team to a 22-12 win over the Canberra Raiders with a hat-trick of tries. After the game Carney expressed no desire to remain with the Knights, choosing to honour his contract with the Gold Coast Titans. However on 16 January 2007 he announced his retirement from all forms of rugby after only participating in one training session with the Titans, indicating that he wished to finish his legal studies and spend more time with his family.
On Thursday 15th March, 2007, BBC Sport reported that Carney had signed for Munster Rugby switching to rugby union, with speculation rife that he would be fast-tracked onto Ireland's tour of Argentina in summer 2007[1]. Because he had walked out on his contract with the Gold Coast Titans, Munster had to pay compensation to the Australian club to secure Carney's registration.
