Neil Turley (born 15 March 1980) 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 in the 1990s and 2000s. He played at representative level for England (Under-21s), and

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 ...

, and at club level for

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 ...

(academy), and

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

( Heritage № 1172), as a

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

-kicking , or .

Early career

Neil started his career as a junior with

, coming through their Academy set-up. As an Academy player he starred in the 1998 Academy Grand Final for Wigan in their defeat by

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 ...

, who boasted such international stars as

Kevin Sinfield Kevin Sinfield (born 12 September 1980) is the defence coach for the England national rugby union team. He is a former professional rugby league footballer, captain and director of rugby for the Leeds Rhinos. Sinfield also represented England ...

and

Rob Burrow Robert Geoffrey Burrow (born 26 September 1982) is an English former professional rugby league player. An England and Great Britain representative, he spent his entire 16-year professional career with Leeds Rhinos in the Super League, making o ...

. His senior career was unlikely to prosper at Wigan as Turley played understudy to

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 ...

Kris Radlinski Kristian John Radlinski MBE (born 9 April 1976) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played mainly as a . He played his entire professional career for his hometown club, Wigan Warriors, making over 300 appearances betwe ...

. Turley took the offer in 2000 to join Second Division side

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

. Neil's father, Norman Turley, was Leigh's assistant coach. After an impressive debut in a friendly game against Australia's

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...

in late 2000, Turley was selected as Leigh's starting ahead of Simon Svabic.

Debut season

His debut season as a senior player in 2001 saw Turley smash the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

for tries by a full back, ending the season with 55. He also gained representative honours, playing in both England under-21 Tests against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and played for

as the only player from a non-

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 ...

club to play in the Origin series against rivals

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 ...

. His debut season featured a surprising

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

victory over

neighbours

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 ...

, and saw Leigh finish nine points clear at the top of the Northern Ford Premiership and claim the short-lived

Trans-Pennine Cup The Trans-Pennine Cup was a short-lived competition for professional British rugby league clubs in the RFL Second Division. The competition had no qualification rounds; only a final was played. The finalists were the highest placed team in the N ...

. Turley was the target of

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 ...

who tabled an offer to the Leigh club but Turley turned it down. However, the fantastic year was marred as defeat by

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

in the play-off semi-final eventually saw the

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 ...

go onto win the Grand Final, and a place in the

Records

Turley broke many club records, including goals in a season and points in a season. Yet the ultimate prize, Grand Final success, eluded Leigh. In 2002 and 2003, the relegated Super League sides,

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...

and

remained fully professional teams. Thus, their full-time fitness and coaching led to defeat in successive Grand Finals for Leigh. When Halifax were relegated to play in the 2004 National League competition, their financial troubles meant they were unable to retain a full-time team and struggled, paving the way for Leigh to go about achieving their dream. Leigh defeated

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

32-16 after over-time to finally attain

status for 2005's Super League X.

Retirement

Turley announced his retirement in April 2006, due to a serious recurring back injury. He made 122 appearances for Leigh, scoring 1,501 points, including 132 tries.

Career Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turley, Neil 1980 births Living people English rugby league players Lancashire rugby league team players Leigh Leopards players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks