Chris Anderson (rugby league)

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Chris Anderson
Personal information
Full name Chris Anderson
Senior clubs*
Years Club Apps (points)
1971 ‐ 84
1974 ‐ 75
1985 ‐ 88
Canterbury
Widnes
Halifax
232

Representative teams
Australia
Professional clubs coached
1985 ‐ 88
1989
1990 ‐ 97
1998 ‐ 01
2002 ‐ 03
2007
Halifax
Canterbury (Jersey Flegg)
Canterbury
Melbourne
Cronulla
Sydney
Representative teams coached
1999 ‐ 03 Australia

* Professional club appearances and points
counted for domestic first grade only.

Christopher Anderson is a former Australian rugby league coach and player. He has played for and coached the Australian national team and is a member of the Halifax RLFC Hall of Fame.

[edit] Playing career

Anderson was a winger who was recruited by Peter Moore from Forbes, New South Wales. He played 232 first grade games for the Canterbury Bulldogs between 1971-84 and was also a member of the Widnes Challenge Cup winning side in 1974-75.

Anderson represented Australia in 8 Tests, the 1975 World Cup and two Kangaroos Tours in 1978 and 1982. He also represented New South Wales and became the first ever player to score a hat-trick of tries in a State of Origin match.

Anderson was also captain-coach of Halifax RLFC between 1985-88 where he enjoyed great success, including the 1986-87 Challenge Cup victory against St Helens.

[edit] Coaching career

Chris Anderson is one of the few people to play and coach competition winning sides in both Australia and England. He is also one of the few people to coach two different clubs to NRL/NSWRL Premiership success.

Anderson returned to Australia after playing/coaching in the British 1987-88 season and was appointed coach of the Canterbury Bulldogs Under 21's team for the 1989 season. He was quickly appointed first grade coach for 1990 and enjoyed eight fruitful seasons at Canterbury, including the 1995 Premiership triumph over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

The formation of the Melbourne Storm saw Anderson become their first coach and he guided the team to Premiership success in 1999 when they defeated the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Anderson was appointed coach of the Australian Rugby League Test Team in 1999 and enjoyed five successful seasons before his tenure came to a halt after the successful 2003 whitewash of Great Britain.

Anderson was also coach of the Cronulla Sharks for two controversial seasons in 2002 and 2003 getting them one game short of the Grand Final in 2002. Anderson was sacked in dramatic circumstances over disagreements with the club's management on the future direction of the team, largely centred around his decision to replace the existing halfback, Preston Campbell with new signing Brett Kimmorley in the starting side. He also continually picked his son, Jared, at the expense of Matt King, who ended up moving to the Melbourne Storm where his career blossomed.

Recently Anderson was coaching the Newport Gwent Dragons but has returned to Australia and no doubt keen to coach an NRL side. Anderson was overlooked for the signing of Canberra Rugby League football club and many have linked it with his choosing to coach a Rugby Union side.

Anderson had accept a 2 year contract with the Sydney Roosters as their first grade coach for the 2007-08 NRL seasons. However late in the season after just five wins from sixteen matches, including a horrific 56-0 loss to Manly Sea Eagles, Anderson stepped down from the job. Former Roosters 5/8 Brad Fittler was his replacement.

Preceded by
Colin Dixon
Coach
Halifax RLFC

1985 ‐ 88
Succeeded by
Graham Eadie
Preceded by
Phil Gould
1988 ‐ 89
Coach
Canterbury Bulldogs

1990 ‐ 97
Succeeded by
Steve Folkes
1998 ‐
Preceded by
team created
Coach
Melbourne Storm

1998-2001
Succeeded by
Mark Murray
2001-2002
Preceded by
John Lang
1994-2001
Coach
Cronulla Sharks

2002-2003
Succeeded by
Stuart Raper
2004-2006
Preceded by
Ricky Stuart
2002-2006
Coach
Sydney Roosters

2007
Succeeded by
Brad Fittler
2007-
Preceded by
Wayne Bennett
1998
Coach
Australia

1999-2003
Succeeded by
Wayne Bennett
2004-2005

[edit] External links