Ryan Patrick Sheridan (born 24 May 1975) is a rugby league

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, and a former Ireland 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. Sheridan was an

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 and played at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Ryan Sheridan was one of the most influential players in the late 1990s for the Rhinos.

Playing career

1990s

Sheridan was born in

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

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, and he started his career with Dewsbury Moor ARLFC, and signed professionally with

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club that play in the Championship (rugby league), Betfred Championship. The club play their home games at the Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) on the former site of Don Valley Stadium, their forme ...

in July 1991 making a total of 97 appearances, including 79 starts for the Sheffield Eagles in his six seasons at the club. He scored 40 tries and one drop goal. Having joined the Leeds club in December 1996 from Sheffield Eagles, Sheridan was originally seen as a utility player and in his first season mixed between scrum half and hooker. However, with the arrival of

Graham Murray Graham Ernest Murray (6 January 1955 – 28 July 2013) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin head coach, Murray c ...

in 1998, Sheridan came of age and was the perfect foil to the individual brilliance of

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 ...

with his organisational skills. He played for 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 ...

at scrum half in their

1998 Super League Grand Final The 1998 JJB Super League Grand Final was the first staging of the Super League Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding game of 1998's Super League III, and the first Grand Final of the Super League era. It was held on Saturday ...

defeat by 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 Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

. Sheridan saved his best performances for the Rhinos for the

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 ...

, a competition he seemed to have a love affair with. In 1999 he was man of the match in all three crucial games on the way to the Final against Wigan, St Helens and then Bradford in the semi-final. His incredible pinching of the ball from Danny Peacock in the latter stages of the first half turned the game on its head and assured the Rhinos place at Wembley. Indeed, in the final but for

Leroy Rivett Leroy Rivett (born 17 December 1976) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played club level rugby league (RL) for Leeds Rhinos, Bramley (loan), Huddersfield Giants, Kei ...

's late burst of four tries, Sheridan would surely have won the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...

. He was magnificent under the twin towers, twice denying London in the opening quarter as they threatened to cause a huge upset. His last-ditch tackle on

Shaun Edwards Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 wi ...

, and then

Karle Hammond Karle Hammond (born 25 April 1974) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and Wales, and at club level for Widnes (two spells), and in the ...

steadied the ship before the second half onslaught began. Ryan rose to international status in 1999 when he earned a place in the Great Britain squad that played in the 1999 Tri-Nations series Down Under. He started the first game against Australia and was then on the bench against New Zealand.

2000s

In the year 2000 Ryan teamed up with St Helens'

Tommy Martyn Thomas Martyn (born 4 June 1971) is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level for Ireland, and at club level for Oldham ( Herita ...

for

to form one of the most dangerous half back combinations in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Sheridan was outstanding for the Irish particularly in the crucial final group game against the

New Zealand Māori rugby league team New Zealand Māori rugby league team is a rugby league representative side made up of New Zealand Māori players. The side represents the New Zealand Māori Rugby league. Like its union counterpart, the rugby league team previously competed in ...

. Sheridan was also back to his best in the cup again claiming man of the match awards three more times, a run which continued right up until 2002 when he again scooped the award in the memorable win over Bradford Bulls at Valley Parade. Sheridan's time at Leeds was only interrupted by a serious muscle tear in 2001 which virtually ruled him out for the whole season. In total, Sheridan made 145 starts for Leeds plus 9 substitute appearances. He scored 59 tries and four drop goals to give him a total of 240 points in the Blue and Amber. He returned to representative rugby in 2002 when he captained Yorkshire in both Origin games and then represented Great Britain against Australia in Sydney in July of that year. Ryan left the Rhinos in November 2002 and joined Super League rivals

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 ...

; the following year he joined

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 ...

Coaching career

Ryan joined and coached alongside

Daryl Powell Daryl A. Powell (born 21 July 1965) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Warrington Wolves in the Super League. He is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1980s, 1990s and ...

at Featherstone Rovers. Sheridan followed Powell to Castleford in 2013, and again in 2022 when Powell became head coach at

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 ...

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
The Teams: Ireland
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at leedsrugbyStatistics at rugby.widnes.tv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Ryan 1975 births Living people Castleford Tigers players English people of Irish descent English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Featherstone Rovers coaches Great Britain national rugby league team players Ireland national rugby league team players Irish rugby league players Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Dewsbury Sheffield Eagles (1984) players Widnes Vikings players Yorkshire rugby league team players