Philip William Bancroft is a New Zealand

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 ...

player who represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in two Test matches in 1989.

Playing career

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and South Island representative in the 1980s,''1986 Lion Red Rugby League Annual'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

, 1986. p.133 Bancroft played for the

Glenora Bears The Glenora Bears are a rugby league football club based in Glen Eden, New Zealand who compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was established in 1931 Auckland Rugby League season, 1931 when the Auckland ...

in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition and also represented

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. In 1988, 1989 and 1990 Bancroft won the Painter Rosebowl Trophy for being the leading goalscorer in the competition. Bancroft played for English Rugby League Club Rochdale Hornets in the 1985/86 season, enjoying a good season but narrowly missing out on promotion. In 1989 Bancroft was called up to the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

and played in two test matches against

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 ...

. Bancroft later returned to Canterbury playing for the Haswell Hornets club and the Canterbury Country Cardinals in the

1994 Lion Red Cup The 1994 New Zealand rugby league season was the 87th season of rugby league in New Zealand. The main feature of the season was the inaugural Lion Red Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. The North Harbour Sea Eagles won t ...

.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994'',

, 1994. p.p.187-193Halswell's happy memories of a loss
''The Press'', 25 June 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bancroft, Phil Living people Auckland rugby league team players Canterbury rugby league team players Glenora Bears players Halswell Hornets players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players Point Chevalier Pirates players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Canterbury, New Zealand South Island rugby league team players Year of birth missing (living people)