Michael Platt (born 23 March 1984) is a former

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

international

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 for the Salford Red Devils; he joined the Salford Red Devils in April 2014 and is contacted until the end of the 2014 season following a successful trial with the Superleague club. Michael joined the Red Devils following 3 appearances with the North Wales Crusaders in 2014. Platt's 1st choice position is Full Back but he has been more effective at Centre for the Bradford Bulls winning the 'Rugby League World Centre of the Month' for August.

Background

Platt was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England.

Early career

Platt started his career at the

Salford City Reds 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 ...

, making his début 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 ...

against 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 ...

in the final game of the 2001 season at just 17. However he never quite made the grade and was released by the club. Michael then signed for the

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

. His impressive début season was somewhat blighted by a broken jaw, although he did go on to win the National League's Young Player of the Year award in 2004.

Castleford Tigers

Michael then joined the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

( Heritage № 820), and helped the Tigers gain promotion in 2005. Despite the subsequent

season proving to be difficult in a squad which lacked quality, Platt still managed to score 7 tries. However, after a heart-breaking 29–17 defeat against Wakefield in the final game of the season, Castleford were relegated.

Bradford Bulls

Platt joined the Bradford Bulls in 2007 after a dispute between Platt and Castleford over his availability. His first season started well and he topped the try-scorers league for a number of weeks at the start of the season. He extended his contract in 2011 for a further 2 years, meaning he will stay with the Bulls until at least 2013.

Return to hometown club

On 18 April 2014,

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

head coach, and former

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

team-mate,

Iestyn Harris Iestyn Rhys Harris (born 25 June 1976), also known by the nickname of "Welsh Wizard", is a former dual-code international professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and coach in rugby league in the ...

signed up Michael to play for the Red Devils for the remainder of the 2014 season.

International

Platt is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

international. He was overlooked by Tony Smith for

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 ...

and this has been seen to be due to his allegiance to

for the World Cup 2008 in Australia, and the continuing outstanding form of Paul Wellens. However he was called up for the Great Britain Squad for the 2007 test series with New Zealand, and played at full back for the prestigious Northern Union game against All Golds in a centenary match. He was named in the Ireland training squad for 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 ...

, and the

squad for the

. In October 2014, Platt played in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

competition.

References

External links

Bradford Bulls profileIreland profileSuper League profileCastleford Tigers profilePlatt hits bull's-eye with transfer to BradfordPlatt shows what Reds are missingPlatt shows the way as Bulls take the spoils
{{DEFAULTSORT:Platt, Michael 1984 births Living people Barrow Raiders players Bradford Bulls players Castleford Tigers players Dewsbury Rams players English people of Irish descent Ireland national rugby league team players Leigh Leopards players North Wales Crusaders players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Manchester Salford Red Devils players