T’Other Side: Swinton Lions

T’Other Side: Swinton Lions

Swinton Lions 2018 Shirts

LAST TIME OUT 

Head Coach Stuart Littler

Stuart Littler was promoted to the position of Head Coach in July last year when the previous incumbent moved to another post. You all know who that was! He guided them to survival in the Championship, avoiding relegation by one place in the Championship Shield. His playing career was primarily as a centre. He began with Salford in 1998 and stayed there until moving to Leigh in 2011. In 2014 he played for Rochdale on loan and then spent the final two years of his playing career with Swinton in 2015 and 2016. He also played 19 games for Ireland.

Captain: Andy Thornley

Having made his first grade debut for Salford in 2009, he then went on loan to Whitehaven and then signed for them for the 2010 season. This was followed by four seasons playing for Leigh Centurions. In his final season at Leigh he had loan spells with Swinton and North Wales, signing for Swinton for 2015 and becoming their captain in 2017.

At the back

Fullback, Gabriel Fell, has signed from Wigan. He never got to play in the first team there but had a loan spell with Swinton in 2016 and with Workington last year. He played for the England Academy in 2014.

Welshman, Rhodri Lloyd, usually plays at centre but can also play at second row. He is a Welsh international and before joining Swinton in 2016 he played for South Wales Scorpions, Wigan, Leigh, London Broncos, Whitehaven and Workington.

George Tyson usually plays at centre or loose forward. He started his career at Salford in 2013 and moved to Oldham the next year. In 2016 he moved to Sheffield, returning to Oldham in 2017. He is Swinton’s leading try scorer this year.

In the halves

Brad Billsborough was signed by Swinton from Whitehaven in April this year. He had joined Whitehaven at the beginning of this season from Saint Helens academy. Last year he played one match for Germany.

Rob Fairclough is in his second loan spell of the year from Saint Helens. He is yet to play in the Saints first team but in 2016 played 2 games for the England Academy team.

Jack Hansen, son of former Swinton and Tonga player Lee Hansen, began his professional career with North Wales Crusaders, on a season long loan from Leigh, in 2016. In 2017 he was signed by North Wales but moved to Swinton in mid-season. Recently Jack has been playing at fullback.

At hooker

Hayden Hansen is a hooker from Queensland and played for Redcliffe Dolphins in Australia.  He played there for 13 seasons before deciding to come and try rugby in the UK. He also plays at loose forward.

Luke Waterworth made his début for Wigan in March 2016 before coming on loan to Swinton in June and staying for the rest of the season. He then became a Swinton player in 2017. In 2014 he played for England Academy.

In the pack

Prop forward Ben Austin started with Swinton in 2015 and has played for no other club. In 2013 he played for England Academy.

Andy Bracek is a very experienced prop forward. Having started at Saint Helens in 2004 he joined Swinton in 2016. Between he had played for Warrington, Widnes, Barrow, Crusaders RL and Halifax. At representative level he has played for England U18s and Wales.

Will Hope joined Swinton from Sheffield in March of this year. He plays at second row or loose forward. Before joining Sheffield in 2017 he had played for Oldham and Salford and he is an Irish international.

Having been on the coaching staff at Swinton this year, prop forward Paul Wood has come out of retirement to help Swinton out. His career began at Warrington in 2000 and he remained there until 2014. In 2013 and 2014 he played for Swinton three times on dual registration. In 2015 he joined Featherstone. He is an England and Great Britain international.

Dual Registration and Loan Players

Swinton have relied heavily on loan players and their dual registration with Wigan Warriors. They have used 13 Wigan players this year. They are Joe Brown (wing, age 19), Macauley Davies (second row, age 22 - now retired), Callum Field (second row/centre, age 20), Liam Forsyth (wing, Age 22), Josh Ganson (hooker, age 20), Australian, Gabriel Hamlin (loose forward, age 21), Sami Kibula (forward, age 19), Craig Mullen (fullback/centre, age 23), Frenchman, Romain Navarrete (prop, age 24), Liam Paisley (second row, age 20), Oliver Partington (loose forward, age 20), Josh Woods (stand off, age 20) and James Worthington (wing, age 19). In addition they have had Levy Nzoungou (loose forward, age 20) on loan from Salford, Rob Fairclough (halfback, Age 21) from Saint Helens and Ilias Bergal (wing, age 22) from Leigh.

The Fev connection

Two former Fev players have played for Swinton this year. Gavin Bennion who was on loan from Salford from February to April. He made one substitute for Rovers in 2014 while on loan from Warrington. Paul Wood joined them at the end of July.

There are three players who have played for Fev this year who have previously worn the Swinton shirt. Brad Dwyer played 11 games for Swinton in 2014 on loan from Warrington. Connor Farrell played three games for them last year on loan from Wigan. Shaun Robinson played for Swinton from 2015 to 2017.

John Duffy was the head coach at Swinton from June 2014 to July 2017.