Graeme Leonard West (born 5 December 1953) is a New Zealand former

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 and coach. Standing at six-foot, five inches, he played in the forwards, captaining English club

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 ...

. West also played representative rugby league for

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 coun ...

and is the father of

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 ...

player,

Dwayne West Dwayne West (born 8 June 1980) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. He played in the Super League for St. Helens, Wigan Warriors and Hull F.C. as a er. He is the son of former coach Graeme West. Playing c ...

Playing career

West was selected to play for the New Zealand national team in the 1975 World Cup tournament. He was signed by English club

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 ...

for the

1982–83 Rugby Football League season The 1982–83 Rugby Football League season was the 88th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1982 until May, 1983 for the Slalom Lager Championship. Season summary *Slalom Lager League ...

from New Zealand side Taranaki. He was actually 29 when he signed, though Wigan believed him to be 2 years younger. Within weeks of him making his début, he played left- in the 15–4 victory over

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 popul ...

in the 1982–83 John Player Trophy Final during the 1982–83 season at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The ...

on Saturday 22 January 1983. He became captain in 1984, leading Wigan to Wembley for the 1984 Challenge Cup Final, which was lost to

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 ...

. He captained Wigan to victory in the

1985 Challenge Cup The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Final. West was a non playing substitute for defending champions Wigan in their

1987 World Club Challenge The 1987 World Club Challenge (also known as the 1987 Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers, Foster's) was the second game of its kind to be played between Britain's and Australia's domestic rugby league champion clubs. Ch ...

victory against the visiting

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 ...

. He retired from the first team in 1989 to lead the reserve 'A' Team as

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

, but made a late appearance against Castleford in 1991 due to injuries and a fixture pile up, scoring a try late in the game that gained a standing ovation. Graeme West played left- and scored a try in

's 18–26 defeat by St. Helens in the

1984 Lancashire Cup Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast ...

Final during the 1984–85 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

, on Sunday 28 October 1984, played left- in

's 34–8 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the 1985 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1985–86 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hoste ...

, St. Helens, on Sunday 19 October 1986, and played as an interchange/ substitute (replacing

Shaun Wane Shaun David Wane (born 14 September 1964) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach for the England national rugby league team and former professional rugby league footballer He is a former head coach of the Wigan W ...

), and scored a try in the 28–16 victory

in the

1987 Lancashire Cup File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

Final during the 1987–88 season at

, St. Helens, on Sunday 11 October 1987. Graeme West played left- (replaced by interchange/ substitute

Brian Case Brian G. Case (14 January 1958) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for Great Britain national rugby league team, Great Britain and England nation ...

) in

's 15–4 victory over

in the 1982–83 John Player Trophy Final during the 1982–83 season at

on Saturday 22 January 1983, played left- in the 11–8 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 Challen ...

in the 1985–86 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1985–86 season at

on Saturday 11 January 1986, and played left- in the 18–4 victory over

in the 1986–87 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1986–87 season at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

on Saturday 10 January 1987.

Coaching career

In 1994, following the sacking of

John Dorahy John Kevin Dorahy (born 28 August 1954), also known by the nickname of "Joe Cool", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played in the Australian New South Wales Rugby League premiership and also represented ...

, West was appointed as coach of Wigan, after fans petitioned for him to get the job. In his first month as coach, at the end of the

1993–94 Rugby Football League season The 1993–94 Rugby Football League season was the 99th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August 1993 until May 1994 for a number of titles, primarily the Stones Bitter Championship. Season ...

West secured the First Division Premiership Trophy against Castleford, and then travelled with Wigan to Brisbane, guiding them in their

1994 World Club Challenge The 1994 MMI World Club Challenge was a replay of the 1992 World Club Challenge, with 1993–94 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan facing the 1993 NSWRL season premiers, the Brisbane Broncos, this time in Australia. Wigan were cle ...

victory over Australian premiers, the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

- The first time it was won by an English team in Australia. At the end of his first full season, he and the team won the League Championship, Challenge Cup, Regal Trophy, and Premiership - the 'Grand Slam' of all 4 trophies. Even though Wigan dominated Rugby League from 1985 to 1995, it was the only season the club achieved this feat. During the

1994 Kangaroo tour The 1994 Kangaroo Tour was the 18th and last Kangaroo Tour played in the conventional format, where the Australia national rugby league team (known as the XXXX Kangaroos due to sponsorship reasons) played a number of matches against British and Fre ...

Wigan hosted a match against the Australian national team but couldn't pull off a win. Despite a second half comeback, the tourists won the match 30 - 20. West stayed on in that position until February 1997 when, following an early exit from the Challenge Cup in 2 consecutive years, he was replaced by Eric Hughes. After leaving Wigan, West spent short spells at Lancashire Lynx and

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 r ...

Legacy

In 2008 West was named in the

Taranaki Rugby League Taranaki Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. The TRL are represented by the Taranaki rugby league team. They are in the Mid-Central zone along with the ...

Team of the Century. He still lived and worked in Wigan up to the early 2010s, but then returned to his native New Zealand.

References

Sources

*
Graeme West Wigan Playing Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite''. *
Graeme West Wigan Coaching Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite''.
Graeme West at wiganwarriors.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Graeme 1953 births Living people Central Districts rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team captains New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players North Island rugby league team players Rugby league second-rows Taranaki rugby league team players Widnes Vikings coaches Wigan Warriors captains Wigan Warriors coaches Wigan Warriors players