Gary J. Connolly
| Personal information |
| Full name |
Gary J. Connolly |
| Date of birth |
22 June 1971 (1971-06-22) (age 40) |
| Place of birth |
St Helens, Lancashire, England |
| Height |
183 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight |
89 kg (14 st 0 lb) |
| Club information |
| Position(s) |
Fullback, Centre |
| Current club |
Retired |
| Youth clubs |
| Years |
Club |
|
Blackbrook ARL |
|
| Senior clubs* |
|
|
| Representative teams |
|
|
* Professional club appearances and points
counted for domestic first grade only. |
Gary J. Connolly (born 22 June 1971 in St Helens, England) was a rugby league full back who later played at centre for St Helens, Canterbury Bulldogs, Wigan Warriors, Leeds Rhinos and for the Great Britain national side. In the twilight of his career, he played rugby union for Irish side Munster.
Connolly was a dependable centre capable of a quick turn of step and strong defence. His talent was evident from an early age. At just 17, he appeared in St. Helens' ill-fated defeat to their arch rivals at Wembley in 1989 on the back of some impressive performances. He was selected to go on the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand.
His move to rivals, Wigan, in 1993 was a controversial one and many St. Helens followers labelled him 'Judas'.[2] Wigan paid £250,000[3] for Gary Connolly when he moved from St Helens in 1993 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £451,000 in 2009).[4]
Nevertheless Connolly was a member of the successful Wigan team of the mid 90's. After the 1993–94 Rugby Football League season Connolly travelled with defending champions Wigan to Brisbane, playing at fullback in their 1994 World Club Challenge victory over Australian premiers, the Brisbane Broncos.
Connolly was regarded as one of the premier British centres of his generation and appeared 31 times for the national side excelling in the defensive side of the game, although his try scoring record was very modest at this level. Connolly was in the Super League Dream Team of the 1996 at fullback and in 1999 season at centre. Connolly moved to Leeds in 2003 and the same year was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy as Man of the Match in the 2003 Challenge Cup final against Bradford Bulls.[5]
Connolly was also named in the 2003 Super League Dream Team at fullback.
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