Willie Peters (born 1 March 1979) is an Australian 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 11 ...
coach who is the head coach of the
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 Challen ...
in the
Betfred 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 w ...
and a 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 11 ...
footballer. Peters played in the 1990s and 2000s for the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...
as a . He had also previously played for the
St George Illawarra Dragons
The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George, Sydney, St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since NR ...
as well as in England for
Gateshead,
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464.
Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...
and
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...
.
Background
Willie Peters was born in
Sydney, Australia.
Playing career
While playing for Souths in the 1990s, coach
Craig Coleman
Craig Coleman (born 31 January 1963) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and coach. He primarily played at , and remains fourth on the list of most first-grade games played for Souths, 208.
Playing career
Coleman was ...
declared that Peters could be the next
Peter Sterling.
In 1999, Peters joined Gateshead before joining Wigan in 2000. Peters played for 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 Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...
at scrum half back in their
2000 Super League Grand Final
The 2000 Super League Grand Final was the third official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding game of 2000's Super League V. Held on Saturday 14 October 2000 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between St. Helens ...
loss against
St Helens R.F.C.
In 2001, Peters joined
St. George playing with the club for two seasons before returning to Souths in 2003. Peters played his two final seasons in Australia with South Sydney where the club finished with back to back wooden spoons. In 2004, Peters joined Widnes and played one season with the club before retiring.
Post playing
In 2016, Peters became head coach of the
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...
Holden Cup team.
In 2017, Peters became the Assistant Coach at
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
. Peters than became an NRL Assistant coach under
Wayne Bennett at the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...
in 2019, before linking with the Newcastle Knights in 2020 as Assistant Coach.
In May 2022, Peters was named as the new coach of
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 Challen ...
, succeeding
Tony Smith. Peters will take charge after Smith leaves at the end of the
2022 season.
Controversy
On 15 September 2017, Peters left his position at Manly after it was alleged he had been involved in a fight with another Manly staff member at a pub in The Rocks, Sydney. Peters was issued with an infringement notice by police for offensive behaviour.
The Manly club later released a statement which read "The Sea Eagles will not tolerate misconduct and expect all employees to represent the club at the highest standard," Manly owner and chairman Scott Penn said. "All employees agree to the club's code of conduct and know what is expected of them. We must uphold these standards and will not accept any avoidable breach of conduct".
References
External links
Willie Peters at stats.rleague.comSouths release Peters, sign Cusack
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Willie
1979 births
Living people
Australian people of Greek descent
Australian rugby league players
Hull Kingston Rovers coaches
Newcastle Thunder players
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Sydney
South Sydney Rabbitohs players
St. George Illawarra Dragons players
Widnes Vikings players
Wigan Warriors players