Gareth Ellis (born 3 May 1981) is an English 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 112 ...

footballer who played as a and 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 ...

and the

NRL 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 ...

, and

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 ...

and

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 is ...

at international level. He played at club level for the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

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 Headi ...

(with whom he won

Super League XII Engage Super League XII is the official name for the year 2007's Super League season in the sport of rugby league. The 2007 season kicked off on the weekend of 2 February 2007 at the Galpharm Stadium. For the first time, the league had a stagger ...

2007 Super League Grand Final The 2007 Super League Grand Final was 10th official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XII season. Held on Saturday 13 October 2007, at Old Trafford (football ground), Old Trafford in Manchester, th ...

and Super League XIII's

2008 Super League Grand Final The 2008 Super League Grand Final was the 11th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XIII season. Held on Saturday 4 October 2008, at Old Trafford, Manchester, the match was between League Leaders ...

), and

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the

, and for the Wests Tigers in the

. Earlier in his career he played as a . He also represented

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Background

Ellis was born in

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 the ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England.

Playing career

Early career

Ellis was a junior at

Castleford Lock Lane Lock Lane ARLFC are an amateur Rugby league Club in Castleford, West Yorkshire. Their home ground is the Hicksons Arena, part of the Lock Lane Sports Centre. The first team currently play in the National Conference Division One and the Acad ...

prior to signing for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats' Academy side in 1999.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Ellis made his first team début in 1999, he broke into the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats team in 2000, and he made over 100 appearances for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. Gaerth Ellis

Leeds

Gareth Ellis was transferred from the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats to the Leeds Rhinos in 2005. As

Super League IX Tetley's Super League IX was the name of the 2004 Super League championship season due to sponsorship by Tetley's Bitter. This was the 110th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the ninth championship decided by Super ...

champions, Leeds Rhinos faced

2004 NRL season The 2004 NRL season (also known as the 2004 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra) was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed dur ...

premiers, Canterbury-Bankstown in the

2005 World Club Challenge The year 2005 Carnegie World Club Challenge was contested by Super League IX champions Leeds Rhinos and 2004 NRL season premiers, the Bulldogs. The match was played on 4 February at Elland Road, Leeds before 37,208 spectators. Australian Sean Hamp ...

. Ellis played at in Leeds Rhinos' 39–32 victory. Ellis played for Leeds Rhinos in the

2005 Challenge Cup The 2005 Powergen Rugby League Challenge Cup was played by teams from across Europe during the 2005 rugby league season. Hull F.C. won the cup defeating Leeds Rhinos in the final. Qualifying Round First Round Second Round Third Round Four ...

Final at in their loss against

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

. Ellis also received a 2006 Super League Grand final runners up medal. He played for

as a in their

2005 Super League Grand Final 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

loss against the Bradford Bulls. In February 2008, Ellis agreed to a contract with Australian National Rugby League club, Wests Tigers, for a three-year deal commencing in 2009. Ellis was named in the Super League Dream Team for 2008's Super League XIII season. He played in the

victory over St Helens.

Wests Tigers

forward Gareth Ellis cited a lifestyle change and the desire to test himself on the biggest stage for his reasons to quit

champions

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 populati ...

at the end of the new season. Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens praised new signing Gareth Ellis on making a decision based purely on a challenge rather than money. He joined the list of British players who have played for the Wests Tigers joint venture through Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies –

Andy Currier Andrew S. Currier is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain national representative goal-kicking , he played most of his club rugby with English club Wid ...

, Ellery Hanley,

Lee Crooks Lee Crooks (born 14 January 1978) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender As a combative defensive midfielder, Crooks made 282 competitive appearances in his ...

Garry Schofield Garry Edward Schofield OBE (born 1 July 1965) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and is a member of the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. At the time of his retirement he was the most ...

and

Harvey Howard Harvey Howard is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain and England international representative , he played club football in England for Widnes, Leeds, Bradford Bulls and Wiga ...

. Gareth Ellis became the first Great Britain

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

to switch to the

since former Sydney Roosters hitman

Adrian Morley Adrian Paul Morley is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward from the 1990s through the 2010s. A Great Britain national rugby league team, Great Britain and England national rugby league team, Engl ...

spent six successful seasons in Australia. Ellis made his NRL début against the Canberra Raiders in round 1 of 2009, and played in 22 games for the season. After not scoring in 2009, he managed 6 tries in 2010. He produced his first off a toe poke from Robbie Farah in round 1, and scored a double against Penrith in round 23 as the team amassed 43 points. During his second season with the Wests Tigers, Ellis signed an extension until the end of 2013. Coach Tim Sheens said, "In my time here, dollar-for-dollar, he's been the best buy this club has had." Reduced to 18 appearances in 2011, Ellis made a trip to Britain mid-season, suffering from an ankle injury and home-sickness. However, he played well enough to be named the Wests Tigers Player of the Year for the third consecutive year.

Hull F.C.

It was announced on 28 February 2012 that Ellis was looking to return to Super League in 2013 which has sparked a flurry of interest from Super League clubs to sign the player. On 21 March 2012 it was announced he would be joining Super League club

. Ellis Captained Hull F.C. to victory at Wembley in the Challenge Cup in two successive seasons 2016 & 2017. However, Ellis returned to the Hull F.C. playing squad after being retired from the sport for 18 months, helping them end a 13 game losing run. Ellis retired for the 2nd and final time at the end of the 2020

Super League XXV Super League XXV, known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the Super League and 126th season of rugby league in Great Britain. St Helens were the reigning champions going into Super League XXV. At the st ...

season

Representative career

Yorkshire

Gareth Ellis won cap(s) for

while at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

Great Britain

Ellis became Wakefields first player to represent Great Britain for 12 years in 2003. Ellis first played for the Great Britain team in the final test of the 2003 Ashes series. He has been capped 17 times for Great Britain and in 2007 was named in the ''International Team of the Year'' having started in 11 consecutive Tests for the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

England

Ellis was selected for the England squad to compete in 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 ...

tournament in Australia. Group A's first match against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

he played as a in England's victory. He was selected to play for England against France in the one-off test in 2010.

Accolades and awards

In November 2008, Ellis was named at second-row in the inaugural

Rugby League International Federation The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...

's (RLIF) ''Team of the Year'', tying for the position with

Anthony Laffranchi Anthony Laffranchi (born 16 November 1980) is a former professional rugby league footballer. An Australia and Italy international, and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played in the National Rugby League for the Wests ...

. In 2009 he was placed in the side again. Ellis was named the Wests Tigers Player of the Year for 2009 and also won the Members Player of the Year. He was nominated for the Golden Boot for his efforts throughout the season. He was again named the Tigers Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011.