Tony Benson (born 1965) is a

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 ...

coach from

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 ...

Coaching career

New Zealand

Benson coached

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Zeala ...

team

Hibiscus Coast Raiders The Hibiscus Coast Raiders are a rugby league club based on the Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand. They compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition and between 2000 and 2005 were also involved in the Bartercard Cup competition. History ...

from 2001 to 2005, as well as the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

team from 2003 to 2005.

Great Britain

Moving to Britain in September 2005, Benson took charge of

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 ...

. Leigh's relegation from

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 ...

had been all but confirmed at the time of his appointment and he knew his task would be to lead the club back to the top. He replaced

Darren Abram Darren Abram (born 27 September 1967) is a rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at club level for the Warrington ( Heritage № 867), making one appearance in 1987, Swinton (1987–88), ...

, who left the club in September 2005. In his only season in charge, Benson led the Centurions to cup glory, in the victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

in the

Northern Rail Cup The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...

final. Benson parted company with Leigh after the club's defeat by

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 ...

in the 2006 National League One playoffs. Following the announcement, a number of Leigh's coaching staff and management left the club, resigning to show solidarity with Benson. In 2007, Benson coached the Ireland A squad in the four nations championship. He also led the Irish Wolfhounds on a tour of New Zealand. He was appointed head coach of the

London Skolars The London Skolars are a professional rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in north London. They were founded in 1995 and have been professional since 2003, operating in the Betfred League 1. They also run an ...

in December 2007 to replace

Latham Tawhai Latham Tawhai (born 23 August 1972) is a rugby league coach and former player from New Zealand. He has also represented his country in softball. Playing career A Northcote Tigers junior, Tawhai played in the Auckland Rugby League competition be ...

, who left to become the understudy coach at neighbours

Harlequins RL The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

. Benson left his job at London Skolars at the end of the season due to the inconvenience of travelling from his home in

Leigh, Greater Manchester Leigh is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, on low-lying land northwest of Chat Moss. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, Leigh was originally the cen ...

. In 2009 he was appointed head coach of

Oldham R.L.F.C. Oldham R.L.F.C., also known as the Roughyeds, is a professional rugby league football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club currently competes in the RFL League 1, the third tier of British Rugby League. Formed in 1876 as Oldh ...

in the British Rugby League National Championship 1. When he left Oldham, Benson became the first coach of new side

Oxford Rugby League Oxford Rugby League was a semi-professional rugby league club based in Oxford, England. The club was formed in 2012 and joined League 1 in 2013, playing for five seasons before agreeing to merge with Gloucestershire All Golds following the 2 ...

. He left the club after two seasons. Benson subsequently took up a post with Belgium Rugby League as Sport Director. Benson then decided to give up the professional side of the game to set up a coaching business coaching the amateur side of the game. He took on the Crosfields first team job, Manchester Met University RL and Leigh Miners U13s, while still coaching Belgium. He coached each team for 2 years and in his second season he won every title available losing only 3 games in a season across all 4 teams.

Kiwi Ferns

He was appointed as the coach of the

Kiwi Ferns The New Zealand women's national rugby league team, also known as the Kiwi Ferns or New Zealand Kiwi Ferns, represents New Zealand in Women's rugby league. They are administered by the New Zealand Rugby League. New Zealand won the Women's Ru ...

in March 2017 where they competed at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and lost narrowly in the Grand Final after completing the pool games undefeated.

References

1966 births Living people Belgium national rugby league team coaches Hibiscus Coast Raiders coaches Ireland national rugby league team coaches Junior Kiwis coaches Leigh Centurions coaches London Skolars coaches New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand women's national rugby league team coaches Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches Oxford Rugby League coaches {{NewZealand-rugbyleague-bio-stub