Dean Lance (born 4 April 1959) is an Australian former 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 11 ...

footballer and coach, and current football manager at the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

of the NRL. He played in the

New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sou ...

in the 1980s for the Newtown and Canberra clubs, captaining the Raiders for almost 5 years and winning two premierships with them. After playing he coached Super League clubs in Australia (the

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 ...

and the

Adelaide Rams The Adelaide Rams were an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team was formed in 1995 for the planned rebel Super League competition. The Rams lasted two seasons, the first in the Super Le ...

) and in England (the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...

Playing career

A / hailing from

Narrabri, New South Wales Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. ...

, an eighteen-year-old Lance played representative rugby league for Newcastle in their comprehensive 29–0 victory over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1977 before playing in the NSWRFL. He started playing first grade in the Sydney premiership in 1982 for the Newtown Jets, but at the end of the following year the club exited the competition. Lance moved to the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

and after a few games in lime green was moved to the back row, where he established a reputation as one of the hardest workers in the NSWRL, despite conceding in weight to most rivals. Lance was named captain of the Raiders in 1986 and played in his first Grand Final for Canberra in 1987. In 1989 the captaincy of the club was handed over to

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

, but Lance played in his second grand final, this time winning the premiership. In the post season he travelled with the Raiders to England for the

1989 World Club Challenge The 1989 World Club Challenge (also known as the Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers, Foster's) was the third ever and first official World Club Challenge match. 1989's NSWRL season premiers, the Canberra Raiders travelle ...

which was lost to

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

. The following season was to be Lance's last as a player, but he went out on a high note, with a second consecutive premiership victory.

Coaching career

Lance's coaching career began as reserve grade coach at Canberra in 1992, later being promoted to assistant coach. He took over from Peter Mulholland at the

Perth 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 i ...

in the 1997 Super League season. The club was shut down at the end of that season so he signed as coach of the

in the first year of the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

competition following

Rod Reddy Rod Reddy (born 1 March 1954) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played in the NSWRL Premiership for the St. George Dragons between 1972 and 1983 and the Illawarra Steelers between 1984 and 1985. He also re ...

's dismissal. That was to be the final season for the Adelaide club as well, so again Lance was left without a team to coach. He moved to England and became coach of the

club in the Super League in November 1999, succeeding fellow Australian

Graham Murray Graham Ernest Murray (6 January 1955 – 28 July 2013) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin head coach, Murray c ...

. He served there for three seasons, achieving mixed results and having a less than perfect relationship with the club. Just four matches into the 2001 season, Lance parted from the Leeds Rhinos "by mutual consent". After returning to Australia, Lance took on a football manager's role at the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

club, working with coach and former Canberra teammate,

Craig Bellamy Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norw ...

. Following the Storm's premiership victory in 2007, Lance moved to the

club, also as football manager.

References

External links

Dean Lance at rugbyleagueproject.comDean Lance at nrlstats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lance, Dean 1959 births Living people Adelaide Rams coaches Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Canberra Raiders captains Canberra Raiders players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos coaches Newtown Jets players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Narrabri Western Reds coaches