Robert James Beswick (born 8 December 1984) is a former rugby league footballer who played as a or . He started his professional career in 2004 with the Wigan Warriors in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. He left the club in 2006 and spent the next ten seasons in the Championship with the Widnes Vikings, Halifax and the

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

. In 2017, Beswick joined the Toronto Wolfpack and played in the club's inaugural league game before finishing his career with Newcastle Thunder. Beswick also represented at Ireland at international level, and was capped 26 times between 2006 and 2019.

Background

Beswick was born in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.

Playing career

Club career

Early career

Beswick is a former Wigan St Patricks amateur and Deanery pupil, he played for Wigan's Academy U17s during the 2002 season. He played for the Wigan Academy U21s in 2003, winning the Academy Championship.

Wigan Warriors

Beswick was called up into the first team squad for 2004 after the departures of Paul Johnson and

Shaun Briscoe Shaun Briscoe (born 23 February 1983) is an English former professional rugby league footballer. An England international representative outside back, he has played club football for the Wigan Warriors, Hull FC, Hull Kingston Rovers, and the Wi ...

due to salary cap restrictions. Wigan rugby executive

Dean Bell Dean Bell, also known by the nicknames of "Mean Dean", and "Deano", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, and coach. A New Zealand international representative centre, he played his club football in England, Australia a ...

said: "Bob is an exciting prospect, and his progression through to the first-team squad continues the policy of bringing young players through the ranks." Beswick made his first team début in Terry O'Connor's Testimonial match against

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

. Despite becoming a first team regular during an injury hit 2005 campaign Beswick was released at the end of the season. He had made 22 competitive appearances for Wigan, scoring 2 tries.

Widnes Vikings

In October 2005, Bob signed a two-year contract at newly relegated Widnes Vikings. In his first year with Widnes, Beswick earned a place in the 2006 National League One Dream Team. He continued to play for Widnes in 2007, scoring 5 tries in 23 games. He signed for Halifax after Widnes lost to Halifax in the

National League One National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

quarter-final playoff.

Halifax

He signed for Halifax in September 2008 for the 2009 season. Beswick featured on the losing side for Halifax in the 2011

Northern Rail Cup The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...

Final at Bloomfield Road,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

against

, before joining Leigh the following year for the 2012 season.

Leigh Centurions

While at Leigh, Beswick won the Championship title in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. He was named in the Leigh squad for 2016 but did not feature for the club during the season.

Toronto Wolfpack

In 2016 it was announced that he would join Toronto Wolfpack for their inaugural season in 2017, also becoming the club's head of strength and conditioning.

International career

Beswick is an Ireland international. He was named in the Ireland squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

. He was named in the Ireland squad as captain for the 2009 European Nations Cup. At the end of the 2014 season, Bob captained Ireland in the

2014 European Cup The 2014 European Cup was an international rugby league football tournament. The tournament took place in England, Wales, France, Ireland and Scotland between 17 October and 2 November. It was announced beforehand that the winner of the tournamen ...

tournament. At the conclusion of the 2015 season, he was the vice-captain of Ireland in the

2015 European Cup The 2015 European Cup was an international rugby league football tournament. The tournament took place between 16 October and 7 November in Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland. Scotland were the defending champions. Four teams competed in the 20 ...

tournament. In 2016 he was called up to the Ireland squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup European Pool B qualifiers.