Jonathan "Dana" Wilson (22 May 1983 – 4 September 2011) was a New Zealand professional

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 112 ...

footballer who represented the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

Playing career

Wilson played lower grades for Manly for a season before moving to England in 2005. He played for

Oldham Bears Oldham R.L.F.C., also known as the Roughyeds, is a professional rugby league football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club currently competes in the RFL League 1, the third tier of British Rugby League. Formed in 1876 as Oldh ...

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

( Heritage № 1267) and Halifax before joining Swinton in 2009. He scored the match-winning try for Leigh in the 2006

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 against

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

.Dana Wilson’s Swinton Lions revival
''cbsport.org'', 21 January 2011 He was a key member of Swinton Lions' promotion-winning team in Championship 1 in 2011.

Representative career

Wilson represented New Zealand Under‑16's and Under‑18's before switching his allegiance to the Cook Islands, where his mother was born (his dad was born in Samoa). Wilson played in the

Pacific Cup The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition for national teams from the Pacific region. History The Pacific Cup was started in 1975 by Keith Gittoes of the New South Wales Rugby League.Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers.Swinton Lions' Cook Islands forward Dana Wilson dies in car accident
''The Guardian'', 4 September 2011

Personal life

Wilson lived in

Newton-le-Willows Newton-le-Willows is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2011 census was 22,114. Newton-le-Willows is on the eastern edge of St Helens, south of Wigan and north of Warrington. The ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, England, with his wife Kirsten and their three children.

Death

Wilson was killed in a car accident on Forshaw Lane,

Burtonwood Burtonwood is a village in the civil parish of Burtonwood and Westbrook, in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the name Burtonwood is known worldwide as the location of the ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England, on 4 September 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Dana 1983 births 2011 deaths Cook Islands national rugby league team players Cook Island rugby league players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England Halifax R.L.F.C. players Leigh Leopards players New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Road incident deaths in England Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Swinton Lions players