| Fielden while playing for Wigan in 2008 | ||||||
| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 14 September 1979 [1] Halifax, West Yorkshire, England |
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| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | |||||
| Weight | 105 kg (16 st 7 lb) [2] | |||||
| Playing information | ||||||
| Position | Prop, Second-row | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1998–06 | Bradford Bulls | 224 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 172 |
| 2006– | Wigan Warriors | 139 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Total | 363 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 184 | |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 2000–08 | England | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001–06 | Great Britain | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| As of 20 April 2009 | ||||||
| Source: Rugby League Project | ||||||
Stuart Fielden (born 14 September 1979 in Halifax, West Yorkshire) is an English professional rugby league footballer for Wigan of Super League. A Great Britain international representative Prop, or Second-row, he previously played club football for Bradford with whom he won the 2001, 2003 and 2005 Super League Championships before he moved to Wigan in 2006, winning the 2010 Super League Championship with them.
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Stuart grew up in the village of Old Town near Hebden Bridge. It was not until he was in his teens that he started playing rugby league with Halifax amateur side Illingworth. It was during his time with Illingworth that Bradford signed him.
Stuart made his Bradford debut against his hometown club Halifax in May 1998. He made rapid progress alongside experienced props Joe Vagana, Brian McDermott and Paul Anderson and was named Super League's young player of the year in 2000[3]
in 2005 Fielden narrowly escaped the 2004 Inidan Ocean tsunami while holidaying in Thailand.[4]
Fielden won numerous honours and trophies while at Bradford, with a trademark aggressive style that saw him establish a reputation as one of the best and most feared frontrowers in the world. In February 2006 he was won his last trophy with Bradford, being named Man of the Match and scoring two tries in the World Club Challenge match against Wests Tigers. Many claimed following this match that Stuart was indeed the best prop in the world. He did not miss a game for the club in his last two seasons at Bradford and was an automatic choice for the Great Britain national rugby league team for the majority of his Bradford career.
In August 2007 he was named in Bradford's team of the Century.
On 22 June 2006 Stuart make a shock switch from Bradford to join his old coach Brian Noble at Wigan. Wigan and Bradford agreed a transfer fee of £450,000 making it the most expensive cash only transfer of the Super League era. Stuart made his Wigan debut against Warrington on 23 June 2006 at the JJB Stadium. He was instrumental in helping his new club to avoid relegation in the remainder of the 2006 season, and he featured in the Tri-Nations tournament at the end of the season. During this tournament, in a match against Australia, he was involved in an altercation with Australian forward Willie Mason in which Mason punched Fielden, knocking him out.[5] Since then, Fielden has experienced a considerable drop in form. He has been under pressure from Wigan fans for lack of fire and determination that made him one of the best prop forwards in the world. Many cite burnout as a reason for this - Fielden would regularly play 80 minutes in his younger days, which is unusual for prop forwards who are generally exposed to many tough physical collisions during a game.
In the 2010 season however his form improved with the rest of the team that topped the league for most of the season. His performances have been outstanding in a Wigan team that is again performing well. An iconic moment in the rival of Stuart Fielden happened on Sunday 15 August in a match against Huddersfield involving a bust up between Fielden and Huddersfield prop Keith Mason. Mason stamped on Fielden's ankle sparking a brawl which involved 'nearly all 26 players'. Mason seemed to want nothing to do with the incensed Fielden and Darrell Griffin took the fall for it. Subsequently both men were sin binned. Fielden went onto to have a fantastic game, playing like in his iconic aggressive style whilst at Bradford.[6]
Fielden took part in a boxing match, The Rumble By The Humber, against fellow rugby league player, Lee Radford which raised in excess of £60,000 for former team-mate Steve Prescott. He lost the fight after being stopped in the second round. [1]
Fielden's 2011 season began with a slow start. He was ruled out of Wigan's opening fixture against St Helens following a knee operation, but recovered in time for Wigan's next match against Bradford.[7][8] He did not feature in the World Club Challenge squad that faced St George Illawarra Dragons, and on 9 March was confirmed as needing another knee operation which would keep him sidelined for four months.[9]
Stuart Fielden won caps for England while at Bradford in 2000 against Australia, Russia (sub), Fiji (sub), Ireland and New Zealand, and won caps for Great Britain while at Bradford in 2001 against Australia, Australia (sub) (2 matches), and France (sub), in 2002 against Australia, and New Zealand (3 matches), in 2003 against Australia (3 matches), in 2004 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches); in 2005 against Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), while at Wigan in 2006 against New Zealand (3 matches), and Australia (2 matches).[10]
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