Brian Noble (rugby league)

Brian D. Noble (born 1961) is an English rugby league football coach and former player. Nicknamed 'Nobby', he was the captain of the 1984 Great Britain touring team to Australia. He is the only man to coach a club to three Super League Grand Final victories. Noble is also the former coach of the Great Britain national team. He is currently a mentor to young London Broncos head coach Andrew Henderson.

Playing career

Brian Noble's early rugby league career was as a member of the Police Boys' Clubs before he signed for Bradford Northern (now Bradford Bulls). His début came in the 1978-1979 season and was the beginning of almost 15 years and over 400 games with the club, concluding in the centenary season of 1995-96 following a spell at Wakefield Trinity.

Noble combined his professional career with his job as a policeman, and captained Great Britain on the Lions' tour of Australasia in 1984.^[1] He played in all seven tests on the tour, including the test in Papua New Guinea.

Coaching career

Bradford Bulls

After 6 years serving in the backroom staff at the club following his retirement, he was appointed Bradford head coach in November 2000.^[2] After initial confusion regarding chairman Chris Caisley's appointment - the tabloids reported that the new coach was Radio 4 comedian Ross Noble! - he was a hugely popular choice to succeed departing coach Matthew Elliott. Noble took the Bradford Bulls to the 2001 Super League Grand Final in which they defeated the Wigan Warriors. As Super League VI champions, the Bulls played against 2001 NRL Premiers, the Newcastle Knights in the 2002 World Club Challenge. Noble oversaw Bradford's victory. In July 2002, Noble received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bradford for his achievements as a rugby league player and coach. He took the Bulls to the 2002 Super League Grand Final which was lost to St Helens RFC. He was named Super League coach of the year in 2003 and succeeded David Waite as Great Britain coach following the 2003 Ashes series.

Whilst head coach of Bradford Bulls, he guided the Bulls to two Minor Premiership titles, victory in three Grand Finals in 2001, 2003 and 2005, the Rugby League Challenge Cup in 2003 and to three World Club Championships in 2002, 2004 and 2006. In 2004 he received the Rugby League International Federation's coach of the year award.^[3]

Wigan Warriors

On 20 April 2006 Noble took up the position of head coach at Wigan Warriors; nine days after the sacking of Ian Millward. Brian took over at the club during a relegation battle which at one point looked as though Wigan would lose, however he has been credited for keeping the Warriors in the Super League following a number of impressive performances.

On 17 January 2007 it was announced that his contract as head coach of the British national team would not be renewed.

In June 2009 there was speculation that Wigan Warriors chairman Ian Lenagan had approached New Zealand national rugby league coach Stephen Kearney in relation to succeeding Brian Noble as head coach at Wigan.^[4]

In October 2009, after the defeat to St Helens in the semi-final play-off game, Noble announced he would be leaving to club after a meeting with the chairman, Lenegan, the week before.^{[5] [6]}

Crusaders RL

On 14 October 2009 Noble was confirmed as the new head coach of the Welsh side Crusaders.^[7] Jon Sharp was first-team coach, and Iestyn Harris was an assistant. In the 2010 season Noble managed to gain 13 wins which was a vast improvement on the season before and took them into the play offs for the first time.

In November 2010, Noble confirmed his departure from Crusaders Rugby League after only one season in charge. His last match as Head Coach was an 18-12 loss away to the Huddersfield Giants in an Elimination Play-off tie.

Salford Red Devils

On 13 April 2013 Noble was appointed head coach of Salford Red Devils on an 18-month contract, but on 4 April 2014, Marwan Koukash announced that Noble would become the director of football at Salford, while Noble's former assistant Iestyn Harris would become the new head coach.^[8]

References

External links

• Brian Noble Wigan Coaching Career Page
• July 2002 Bradford University press release
• Bull Masters - Brian Noble
• Team Of The Century