Paul Reilly (born 10 May 1976) 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 for the

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 ...

for 11 years until signing for

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 ...

for the 2008 season. He played in the full back position.

Background

Reilly was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England.

Career

Reilly was not interested in rugby league as a child and only watched a few

matches until a friend at school encouraged him to play for a local amateur side. Paul started playing for Moldgreen Under-14s and discovered a real talent for the game. He was playing well at Moldgreen and as a result he attended trials at

Halifax Blue Sox The Halifax Panthers are a professional rugby league club in Halifax, West Yorkshire, which formed in 1873. Halifax were one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. They have been Rugby Leag ...

. They offered him a contract for 1997's

Super League III JJB Sports Super League III was the official name for the year 1998's Super League championship season, the 104th season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the third season played in summer. The League format changed i ...

, but as the 1996 season was only halfway through he was training at the

, after four or five weeks the then coach of the Huddersfield Giants,

Darryl van der Velde Darryl van de Velde (born 3 October 1951) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, coach and administrator. He played club football in Queensland for Souths and represented his state on one occasion in 1977. After playing ...

had seen enough and offered him a deal. In 2001, he spent a month on loan at

Batley Bulldogs Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of th ...

. Reilly established himself as the first choice at Huddersfield Giants, and he was a stand-out player in both the successful

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Northern Ford Premiership The Rugby Football League Championship Second Division was founded in 1902 and was the second tier of professional rugby league in the UK until 2003. During the 1990s a third division was established and there is automatic promotion between ...

campaign and then later in the Super League, where his passionate, whole-hearted performances were a key factor in the Huddersfield Giants establishing themselves as a competitive club. He played twice for England in the

2004 European Nations Cup Under the same format as the 2003 European Nations Cup, six nations participated in two groups of three, each playing a total of two games. England were crowned European champions for the third successive time after they defeated Ireland in the f ...

, including a

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

performance in the final against Ireland, in which he scored two tries in the first seventeen minutes. He featured for his home town team in the

2006 Challenge Cup The 2006 Challenge Cup (also known as the Powergen Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Powergen) was the 105th tournament played for rugby league's Challenge Cup. It features teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, France ...

Final, where he performed a memorable try-saving tackle on

Ade Gardner Adrian Antonio Gardner (born 24 June 1983) is an English former professional rugby league footballer, who spent the vast majority of his career with St Helens in the Super League. He was an England and Great Britain representative er. Early ...

to keep his side in the game in the first half. Towards the end of 2006 Reilly released a testimonial booklet entitled "The Life of Reilly" which celebrated his 10-years with the Huddersfield Giants and featured contributions from many past players and coaching staff. Reilly had a joint testimonial match with

Keith Senior Keith Andrew Senior (born 24 April 1976) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Sheffield Eagles and the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League. A Great Britain and England international representative , he is co ...

of the

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 ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Rugby Stadium,

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 ...

on Friday 26 January 2007. Reilly announced at the start of 2007's

Super League XII Engage Super League XII is the official name for the year 2007's Super League season in the sport of rugby league. The 2007 season kicked off on the weekend of 2 February 2007 at the Galpharm Stadium. For the first time, the league had a stagger ...

that he had signed a one-year extension to his contract and intended to retire at the end of the season after 11 years with his hometown club. He scored 8 tries in the season and helped to steer the Huddersfield Giants to a memorable 5th-placed finish in Super League. It was announced in August 2007 that the Huddersfield Giants would not be renewing Reilly's contract, respecting his wish to retire, and he was proudly carried off the field by team-mates following the club's 16-22 play-off defeat by

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 ...

at the end of 2007's

. Despite intending to retire, Reilly was offered a lucrative contract by

in September 2007 and signed for the club. However, after only four appearances it was revealed that he had sustained a serious neck injury and it seemed likely he would never play again. However, he overcame this injury and played for

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 Co-operative Championship 1.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reilly, Paul 1976 births Living people Batley Bulldogs players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Huddersfield Giants players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby league wingers Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Huddersfield Wakefield Trinity players