Sheffield 2018 Shirts |
LAST TIME OUT
Head Coach: Mark Aston
Amazingly, this is Mark
Aston’s 18th season as head coach of Sheffield Eagles! He started the
re-born club in 2000 and is still the coach, although he stood down and was
only Chief Executive in 2006 but then took over the coaching again in 2007.
When you add in his playing career he has been at Sheffield ever since 1985
with just one break for a little over a year when he was at Featherstone. A
dynamic scrumhalf as a player he won the Lance Todd Trophy in 1998 when he led
Eagles to that amazing win over Wigan at Wembley. He also played five times for
Great Britain. Mark Aston is the head coach of the Ireland international team.
Captain: Matt James
Matt James is
now in his second year as the Sheffield Eagles captain. He can play at second
row or prop. Matt is a Welsh international although back in 2005 he played in
the England U18 side. His club career started with Bradford Bulls and included
spells with Barrow Raiders, Halifax and Harlequins RL before joining
Featherstone in 2013. After 3 years at Rovers he moved to Sheffield.
At the back
Ben Blackmore usually plays
but also occasionally at centre. His career began with just a single appearance for Castleford in 2012. He moved on to
Huddersfield in 2013 and that year also played on dual reg with Batley and on
loan with Doncaster. In 2014 he again played for Batley on dual reg and then
was signed by Fev in
June. In 2016 he joined Sheffield. He played one game for Scotland back in
2011. Matty Costello has this year
played for Sheffield at fullback, centre and scrumhalf while on dual reg from
Saint Helens for whom he made his début against Huddersfield in April.
In 2016 he played for the England Academy. Ryan
Millar, who usually plays at fullback but is equally at home on the wing,
has a somewhat unusual profile for a rugby league professional. He was born in
Germany, brought up in Birmingham and is training to be an architect. He is a
product of the Eagles academy and scored two tries in his senior debut away to
London Broncos in June 2015. He then scored a hat trick against Hull KR in his
first home match. Menzie Yere missed
the early part of this year because of visa problems. He is their record holder
for tries in a season after scoring 46 in 37 matches in 2013. On May 26th he
scored his 200th career try.
In the halves
Cory Aston is back playing for Sheffield,
currently on loan from Castleford. He was signed by Castleford this year but is
yet to make his début there. His career began with Sheffield
in 2013. He was signed by Leeds in 2017 but he never played in the 1st team
there, but played 12 games on loan with Fev and 10 with Bradford, also on loan.
He is the son of Mark Aston. Simon Brown
started his career with Doncaster in 2010 but he moved to Sheffield in July. In
2013 he played for York and then in 2014 for both Batley and Halifax. He spent
2015 and 2016 at Hunslet and then returned to Sheffield last year. In both 2011
and 2012 he kicked more than 100 goals but is now only the third choice kicker
after Cory Aston and Oscar Thomas. Oscar
Thomas is playing at scrum-half although he played mainly at fullback for
Bradford. He joined Sheffield this year. From 2013 to 2015 he was a London Broncos
player and also played for London Skolars on dual reg. In 2016 he joined
Bradford and again played for London Skolars (this time on loan). He is a
Scotland international and played in the 2017 World Cup.
At Hooker
Greg Burns has been at Sheffield for his
entire career. He made his début in 2015. Matty Fozard is usually the starting hooker in the Sheffield side
but he has also played at loose forward and stand-off this year. His career
began with a single appearance with Saint Helens in 2014. During 2015 he played
with Batley on loan and Rochdale on dual reg and then in 2016 he signed for
Sheffield.
In the pack
Jack Ashworth is a Saint Helens player who has
been at Sheffield on dual reg. He usually plays in the second row and
occasionally at loose forward. He made his début for Saints in 2015 and that year
also played for Rochdale on dual reg. In 2016 he was the man of the match for
Saint Helens in a match against Hull FC. Oliver
Davies (second row) signed for Sheffield this year from Swinton. He is
another who started with Saint Helens making a small handful of appearances for
them in 2015 and 2016. He played for England Academy in 2014. Maltese born Joe Magrin is a prop
forward who has played for both Malta and Jamaica. He
joined Sheffield this year from Bradford Bulls. He started his career with
London Broncos and also played for London Skolars that year on dual reg. Prop Forward, Mark
Offerdahl, was born in Queensland but his father is American. He played for the
USA in the 2013 World Cup and was their captain in the 2017 World Cup. At club
level he has played in France for Carcassonne in France, in Wales for North
Wales Crusaders, in Australia for Illawarra Cutters, in the USA for Connecticut
Wildcats and in England for London Broncos.
Dual Registration and Loan Players
Sheffield Eagles have a dual
registration agreement with Saint Helens. So far this year seven Saints players
have appeared for Sheffield: Jack
Ashworth, James Bentley, Matty Costello, Matty Lees, Ben Morris, Jake Spedding and Adam Swift.
They also have former player Cory Aston
on loan from Castleford.
The Fev connection
Both the Sheffield coach and captain are former Fev players. Mark Aston played for Rovers in the
1994/95 season and 6 games at the beginning of the following year before
returning to the Eagles. Matt James
signed for Fev from Wakefield in 2013 and was at Rovers for three seasons
before joining Sheffield. Cory Aston
(son of Mark Aston and currently on loan from Castleford) played 12 matches for
Fev last year while he was a registered Leeds Rhinos player. There are also 3
more players in the Sheffield Squad who are former Fev players. Ben Blackmore joined Fev from
Huddersfield in June 2014 and moved to Sheffield at the end of 2015. Shaun Pick began his career with Fev in
2014. He was banned for 2 years for a drugs offence and then played for Toronto
Wolfpack last year. Daniel Igbinedion, who played 3 games for Fev last year, started the season at Sheffield but then moved to Dewsbury.
Four members of the current Fev squad have played for Sheffield.
Keal Carlile was there in 2015 and
2016 before coming to Rovers last year. John
Davies also moved from Sheffield to Featherstone. He spent one season,
2015, with the Eagles. Misi Taulapapa
came to England to play for Sheffield in 2010 and spent 6 seasons there before
joining Fev. Scott Wheeldon was at
Eagles in 2016 and 2017.
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