Michael Forshaw (born 5 January 1970) 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 11 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

footballer who is currently the defence coach for the

Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team ( cy, Tîm rygbi'r undeb cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played the ...

. He began his playing career with

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...

in 1987 and went on to play for

Wakefield Trinity 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 ...

( captain) ( Heritage № 1048),

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Known as the "ultimate professional", he played 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 i ...

Background

Born 5 January 1970 in

, Lancashire, Forshaw had a brief stint at Saracens F.C. (RU), and was briefly the Player Performance Lifestyle Advisor for the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

Playing career

Rugby league

During the

1991–92 Rugby Football League season The 1991–92 Rugby Football League season was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Fourteen teams competed from August, 1991 until May, 1992 for the Stones Bitter Championship, Premiership Trophy and Silk Cut Challen ...

, Forshaw played for defending champions Wigan from the interchange bench in their

1991 World Club Challenge The 1991 World Club Challenge (marketed as the Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship from the brewer) was contested by 1990–91 RFL Championship winners, Wigan and 1991 NSWRL season premiers, the Penrith Panthers. The match was pl ...

victory against the visiting

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

. In 1997 he was named in the

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists an ...

. In the 1997 post season, Forshaw was selected to play for

in two matches of the

Super League Test series Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butt ...

against Australia. Forshaw won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for Great Britain while at Bradford Bulls in 1997 against Australia (ASL) (2 matches) ( interchange/ substitute), in 1998 against New Zealand ( interchange/ substitute), in 1999 against New Zealand ( interchange/ substitute), in 2001 against France ( interchange/ substitute), and Australia (3 matches), in 2002 against New Zealand (3 matches), and in 2003 against Australia (2 matches), and Australia ( interchange/ substitute). Forshaw played for

from the interchange bench in the

1999 Super League Grand Final The 1999 Super League Grand Final was the Second official Grand Final conclusive and championship-deciding game of the Super League IV season. The match was played between St. Helens and Bradford Bulls on Saturday 9 October 1999, at Old Traffo ...

which was lost to St. Helens. Forshaw won

s for

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 ...

while at Bradford Bulls in 2000 against Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Forshaw played for the

as a in their

2001 Super League Grand Final The 2001 Super League Grand Final was the Fourth official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League VI. The match was held on Saturday 13 October 2001 at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Bradfor ...

victory against 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 Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...

. As Super League VI champions, the Bradford Bulls played against 2001 NRL Premiers, the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in the

2002 World Club Challenge The 2002 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 1 February 2002, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and Newcastle Knights. Background Bradford Bulls The 2001 Super League Grand Fina ...

. Forshaw played as a in Bradford's victory. Forshaw played for the

as a in their

2002 Super League Grand Final The 2002 Super League Grand Final was the Fifth official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League VII. Held on Saturday 19 October 2002 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between St. Helens and Brad ...

loss against St. Helens. Forshaw played for the

as a in their

2003 Super League Grand Final The 2003 Super League Grand Final was the 6th official Grand Final conclusive and premiership-deciding match of Super League VIII. Held on Saturday 18 October 2003 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between Bradford Bulls and Wigan ...

victory against the

Coaching career

Rugby league

After retiring from playing in 2004 he rejoined

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 ...

to look after Strength & Conditioning of the players until November 2006. He returned to his boyhood club and teamed up with his old coach Brian Noble in December 2006 when he took over as strength & conditioning coach for

. He studied a BSc part-time at UCLAN following Wigan's sponsorship by UCLAN. He then had a stint at

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

Rugby union

In 2013 Forshaw joined Sale Sharks, as defence coach. Forshaw follows a ‘3D’ approach to the contact area of defence: discipline, detail and decision-making, with a particular focus when within 50m of own try line. In July 2020 Forshaw extended his contract with Sale until the end of the 2022 season. In 2023, after a decade at Sale, Forshaw was appointed as defence coach for the

Welsh national team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...

for the

2023 Six Nations Championship The 2023 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Bull Masters – Mike Forshaw
*(archived by web.archive.org
2001 Ashes profileBulls clinch World Club ChallengeBradford move clearForshaw gives Bulls another boostWaite: Forshaw can continueWithers gets Ashes nodRivals tackle selection posersBulls hit back to beat VikingsWigan 30–18 WarringtonCooke given Tri-Nations lifelineForshaw tips Bulls for titleForshaw blow for WarringtonBradford BullsForshaw is handed key Wolves roleland ForshawForshaw takes Wigan coaching roleKear spoilt for choicePeacock ready to strut his stuffTon-up England hammer USKear rings the changesYour verdict on Bradford's Final winYour Super League Dream TeamSunday 13 AprilBriers called up to GB squadKeiron is lone Welsh star
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forshaw, Mike 1970 births Living people Bradford Bulls players Connacht Rugby non-playing staff England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league hookers Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Wigan Rugby league second-rows Rugby league utility players Rugby union players from Wigan Sale Sharks coaches Wakefield Trinity captains Wakefield Trinity players Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors players