Gary Henley-Smith is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

er and 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 in the 1970s and 1980s. He played club-level rugby league (RL) for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, 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 nor ...

( Heritage № 821) and Fulham RLFC ( Heritage № 85) as a , i.e. number 2 or 5.

Early years

Henley-Smith attended

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, where he was Auckland and New Zealand secondary schools senior boys 100m and 200m champion and held several records. He held the New Zealand junior men's 100m and 200m records at 10.4s and 21.7s. His 10.4s 100m record, set in 1977, stood for 13 years.

Athletics career

Henley-Smith was a member of the Oceania team at the World Cup in Germany in 1977. That same year he joined

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

on a scholarship, spending four years in the United States. When he returned he was a member of Waitakere City Athletic Club and was the

New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association Athletics New Zealand (ANZ) is the national governing body for athletics in New Zealand. This includes responsibility for Track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking. History The organisation was founded in 1887 as the ...

100m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

national champion in 1982 and 1983. He missed selection for the Commonwealth Games in 1978 due to a stress fracture. He competed in New Zealand's

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

team at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Rugby league playing career

Henley-Smith spent the

1985–86 Rugby Football League season The 1985–86 Rugby Football League season was the 91st ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1985 until May, 1986 for the Slalom Lager Championship. Season summary Slalom Lager League ...

playing

in England, joining

, he played , i.e. number 2, in

's 14–8 victory over

in the

1985 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

match at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

on Sunday 6 October 1985, and played (replaced by interchange/ substitute

Steve Hampson Stephen Hampson (born 14 August 1961) is a former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached rugby league in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played club level rugby union (R ...

) in

's 34–8 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

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 Lancashi ...

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1985–86 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted ...

, St. Helens, on Sunday 13 October 1985.

Later years

Henley-Smith spent a number of years as a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

at St Paul's Collegiate School in

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's fou ...

, before moving to Scots College, Wellington as Director of Boarding.

References

External links

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henley-Smith, Gary Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand London Broncos players New Zealand male sprinters New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand schoolteachers People educated at Auckland Grammar School Place of birth missing (living people) Rugby league wingers Washington State University alumni Wigan Warriors players Year of birth missing (living people)