Barrie-Jon Mather (born 15 January 1973) is an English former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player. A dual-code international player, he was the first

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

rugby league player to be capped by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at rugby union. He was the

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

's general manager of football until October 2020, when he was made redundant.

Early years

Mather was born in

Ince-in-Makerfield Ince-in-Makerfield or Ince is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the Ince ward at the 2011 census was 13,486, but a southern part of Ince was also listed under the Abram ward (north ...

, a suburb of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, on 15 January 1973. He moved to Blackpool at a young age when his father took up a teaching position in Lytham St Annes, and attended

Arnold School Arnold School was an independent school in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, established on the Fylde coast in 1896 during the Victorian expansion of public boarding schools in England. The school was in the United Church Schools Trust group o ...

, where he quickly developed as a rugby union player. In 1991 he was selected in the England Schools rugby union team which lost a Grand Slam against Wales. Other notable players in that side were future World Cup winners

Matt Dawson Matthew James Sutherland Dawson, MBE (born 31 October 1972) is an English retired rugby union player who played scrum half for Northampton Saints and then London Wasps. During his international career he toured with the British & Irish Lion ...

and Richard Hill.

Wigan

Despite his school boy success, Mather decided that his future lay in rugby league and eventually signed for the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...

( Heritage № 868) in 1992. He played right- in the 2–33 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

in the 1993–94 Regal Trophy Final at Elland Road,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

on 22 January 1994. He saw domestic success with Wigan and was a member of the Challenge Cup-winning side of 1994 as well as a member of the side that defeated the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

in the

1994 World Club Challenge The 1994 MMI World Club Challenge was a replay of the 1992 World Club Challenge, with 1993–94 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan facing the 1993 NSWRL season premiers, the Brisbane Broncos, this time in Australia. Wigan were cle ...

at Brisbane's

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...

. Relations between the Mather and Wigan turned sour when Mather claimed his contract was null and void because of the circumstances in which it was signed. Mather eventually took Wigan to court when they refused to release his registration without a transfer fee following him signing a contract with

Western Reds The Western Reds were a rugby league football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1992 as the Western Reds, they entered into the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995 before defecting to the rival Super League competition ...

in Australia. He was unsuccessful in his challenge.

Western Reds

Mather played a summer stint for the

in 1995 while at Wigan and fell in love with the Australian way of life. He eventually signed a three-year deal with the club but was unable to complete the move as he claimed to be a free agent but Wigan retained his registration. Mather was selected for

in the 1995 World Cup Final on the reserve bench but did not play as Australia won the match and retained the Cup. After two mixed seasons in the ARL and Super League in which he scored 5 tries for the club, the Western Reds suffered financial difficulties and Mather was released. Mather is the only player to win

caps whilst at the

Castleford Tigers

Mather signed for Castleford Tigers ( Heritage № 748) in October 1997 following the financial problems of the Western Reds. He stated that

Stuart Raper Stuart may refer to: Names *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) Automobile * Stuart (automobile) Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, connecting South Australia and the Northern Territory Northe ...

had spoken to him whilst out in Perth for the

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australasian National Rugby League (NRL) and the European Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. The first such match was pl ...

match and convinced him Castleford was the club for him. He played for Castleford for just one season before making a big money switch to rugby union.

Sale

Mather joined Sale Sharks in 1998 on a two-year deal mainly funded by the RFU. It was the beginning of a period of recruitment from rugby league in which the RFU sought to bring some of the best talents to play for England. Mather did not have the best of times with Sale and played for the club until his contract release in 2000. During that time Sale struggled to make an impact in the Premiership, and Mather never lived up to the hype that surrounded his transfer.

Back at Castleford

Mather returned to Castleford Tigers in 2000 and in his first season back in Super League he made 16 appearances, scoring 7 tries. An injury hit 2001 restricted him to just 8 appearances in which he scored 2 tries following a full shoulder reconstruction. In 2002 Mather made 21 appearances for the Tigers and scored 7 tries for them. However towards the end of the 2002's Super League VII, Mather announced that he would retire from rugby league at the end of the season.

Return to union

Following his retirement from rugby league, Mather returned to rugby union signing a one-year deal with

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

in National One. However his season was cut short when he broke his wrist in a game against Orrell and he was released at the end of the year.

Japan

In 2003 it was announced Mather had signed a 12-month deal to play for

Kubota Kubota machine is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Osaka. It was established in 1890. The corporation produces many products including tractors and other agricultural machinery, construction equipment, engines, vending machines, p ...

in Japan. Following his time there Mather retired from professional rugby.

International rugby league

Mather represented

between 1994 and 1996 making 3 appearances. He was also selected for

for the 1995 World Cup where he made 3(2?) appearances including playing in the opening game against Australia.

International rugby union

Despite struggling for form with his club Sale, Mather was a surprise call into

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lion ...

's England team to face

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in a

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

decider on 11 April 1999 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

. In doing so, he became the first player to represent England at rugby union after having also already played rugby league internationally. England looked to have the game and the Grand Slam won, but a sensational individual effort from

Scott Gibbs Ian Scott Gibbs (born 23 January 1971), also known by the nickname of "Car Crash", is a Welsh former rugby footballer who has represented Wales and the Lions in rugby union and Wales and Great Britain in rugby league. Noted feats included his pe ...

sent England crashing to a 32–31 defeat and the

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

went to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Mather did not play again for England.

Coaching

Following his retirement after a 12 months spell in Japan, Mather was appointed coach of Blackpool RFC in the North Lancs One, following this he became Head Coach at Heaton Moor Rugby. In 2006 Mather was appointed Academy Coach at Guinness Premiership side

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

Management

On 11 June 2009 it was announced Mather would become the RFLs Head of Player Development on 1 July 2009. As part of his role he was also the England team manager. In January 2014 it was announced Mather would become the General Manager, Football of the NSWRL based in Australia, starting in February 2014. He was made redundant from the role in October 2020.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
World Cup 1995 detailsProfile
at wigan.rlfans.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mather, Barrie-Jon 1973 births Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool British expatriates in Japan Castleford Tigers players Coventry R.F.C. players Dual-code rugby internationals England international rugby union players England national rugby league team players English expatriate rugby union players English rugby league players English rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Great Britain national rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Wigan Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Wigan Sale Sharks players Western Reds players Wigan Warriors players