Liam Colbon

Liam Colbon (born (1984-09-20) 20 September 1984) is an English professional rugby league footballer for London Broncos of Super League. He plays Wing and formerly played for Wigan and Hull Kingston Rovers.

Early career

Liam Colbon played for Orrell St. James and Hindley ARLFC before joining Wigan. He attended St Peter's Catholic High School. He spent several season in Wigan's academy setup before making his first team début after coming on as a substitute in Terry O'Connor's testimonial match against London Broncos in November 2003. He made his competitive first team full début again starting as a substitute against Widnes in 2004's Super League IX Round 10 after impressing in the Academy U21s. Liam make 4 more appearances for Wigan during 2004 against; Wakefield Trinity twice, Hull and Widnes again when he was in the starting 13 for the first time for Wigan.

Wigan career

Liam was a substitute in two pre-season friendlies in 2005 one against Salford and the other against London Broncos. Liam made his first start of 2005 in Wigan's 18-16 loss to Wakefield Trinity at Belle Vue in which he set up a try for David Vaealiki. His next appearance was an impressive performance against Hull when he scored his first try for Wigan. Liam came on as a substitute and scored a 90 metre interception try and later made a try saving tackle to help Wigan win the game 21-15. Liam was to make 5 more appearance for Wigan against; Huddersfield, Leeds, Bradford, Warrington and St Helens. By the end of 2005 he had made 9 appearances and scoring 2 tries.

During 2006 Liam only made one appearance during a pre-season friendly against Leigh however this could be due to Wigan having a poor season and spending most of it fighting against relegation. Wigan sacked head coach Ian Millward and replaced him with Brian Noble who used more experienced players in his squad such as Nathan McAvoy rather than academy players. Liam continued to make appearances in the Senior Academy whilst continuing his education as he studied for a degree in Sports Studies at Edge Hill University.

In 2007 Liam finished his university qualification gaining his degree and took part in a Parachute Regiment training scheme which he completed and was awarded his beret. He started the season in the senior academy but he impressed head coach Brian Noble and the after departure of Chris Ashton he was given a first team opportunity in July against Bradford. Afterwards he featured regularly in the Wigan first team scoring 6 tries in 13 starts and was rewarded with a new one year contract for 2008. Speaking at the time he said "I'm glad it's all been sorted. I always wanted to stay here, it's a great club and there is a great spirit in the team". He was given the number 14 shirt for the 2008 season.

Despite being picked ahead of team mate Mark Calderwood for most of the season and making twenty three starts he was not offered a new contract by Wigan and was allowed to leave. Hull Kingston Rovers announced that they had signed Liam and he was given the squad number five for the 2009 season.

Hull KR career

He made his debut in a 13-13 draw away to Bradford. Liam's first try came in a 31-18 home victory over Wakefield Trinity. Rovers fans recognise the work that Liam gets through in defence and the metres gained in attack. Only scored 9 tries in 2009 but scored 5 in 2010 by round 7 including a hatrick against St Helens.

Career statistics

Super League Tries

Scores and results list Liam's try tally first.^[2]

References

External links

• Profile at Hull Kingston Rovers site
• Profile at Wigan Warriors site