Gil Dudson (born 16 June 1990) is a Welsh 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 plays as a for the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

in the

Betfred 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

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at international level. He played for

Crusaders RL Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...

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 on loan from

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

at the

South Wales Scorpions The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional rugby league club based in South Wales. They played in the third tier of the British rugby league system (currently known as RFL League 1, League 1) be ...

in Championship 1. Dudson has also played for the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rug ...

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

and the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons ( French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ...

in the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

Background

Dudson was born in

Trowbridge, Cardiff Trowbridge is a district, community and coterminous electoral ward on the eastern edge of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. The community and electoral ward includes some or all of the areas of the St Mellons estate and Trowbridge, as well ...

, Wales.

Club career

Celtic Crusaders

Dudson began his career at

Celtic Crusaders Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...

, where he progressed through the youth ranks. He made his Super League début in the 2009 season in a fixture against

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 ...

. Dudson spent 2010 on loan at

, and was named in the Championship 1 team of the year at the end of the season. He returned to Crusaders in 2011 and made 12 further appearances for the club. At the end of the season, he joined

along with international team-mate

Ben Flower Ben Flower (born 19 October 1987) is a Welsh professional former rugby league footballer who last played as a for the Leigh Centurions in the Betfred Super League, and has played for Wales at international level. He previously played as a a ...

Wigan Warriors

Dudson featured for Wigan in the

2013 Challenge Cup Final The 2013 Challenge Cup Final was the 112th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2013 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 24 August 2013, kick off 15:00. The final was contested by Hull F.C. and Wigan Warriors. The ...

victory over

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 ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He played in the

2013 Super League Grand Final The 2013 Super League Grand Final was the 16th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League XVIII. The game was held on Saturday 5 October 2013, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Wigan Warrio ...

victory over the

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

Widnes Vikings

In January 2015, he signed for

for the 2015 seasons on a two-year deal.

Salford Red Devils

He played in the

2019 Super League Grand Final The 2019 Super League Grand Final was the 22nd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXIV. It was held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 12 October 2019. The final was contested by St. Helens and Salford Red Devils ( ...

defeat by St. Helens at

Catalans Dragons

On 18 December 2020, it was announced that Dudson would join the

for the 2021 season on a two-year contract. On 9 October 2021, Dudson played for Catalans in their

2021 Super League Grand Final The 2021 Super League Grand Final was the 24th official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXVI. The game was contested between Catalans Dragons and St Helens at Old Trafford. Background The two finalists finished first ...

defeat against St Helens. In round 1 of the 2022 Super League season, Dudson was sent to the sin bin within the first minute of the game in Catalans 28-8 loss against St Helens.

Warrington Wolves

On 23 May 2022, Dudson signed a contract to join

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 ...

for the 2023 Super League season. In round 8 of the 2023 Super League season, Dudson was sent off in Warrington's 20-14 victory over

after punching

Tom Johnstone Tom Johnstone (born 13 August 1995) is an England international rugby league footballer who plays as a er for Catalans Dragons in the Super League. He has spent time on loan from Wakefield at Featherstone Rovers in the Championship. Johnstone ...

when he was lying on the ground. On 12 April 2023, Dudson was suspended for five matches over the incident.

International honours

Dudson made his

début while at Celtic Crusaders in 2008. Dudson has since been a regular for Wales, and featured in their

2011 Four Nations The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the third staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and was played in England and Wales during O ...

campaign. Dudson played in all three of Wales' games in the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

. Dudson did not play for Wales again until October 2016, where he was part of the Cymru's 2017 World Cup qualifying campaign. Dudson scored a try in Wales' opening game against Serbia.

References

External links

Salford Red Devils profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Widnes Vikings profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
SL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudson, Gil 1987 births Living people Catalans Dragons players Crusaders Rugby League players Rugby league players from Cardiff Rugby league props Salford Red Devils players South Wales Scorpions players Wales national rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players Welsh rugby league players Widnes Vikings players Wigan Warriors players