Harrison Hansen

Harrison Hansen
Personal information
Full name Harrison Luther Mata'afa Hansen[1]
Born (1985-10-26) 26 October 1985
Auckland, New Zealand
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Weight 112 kg (17 st 9 lb)[2]
Playing information
Position Second-row, Loose forward
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2004–13 Wigan Warriors 243 43 0 0 172
2014–15 Salford Red Devils 52 9 0 0 36
2016– Leigh Centurions 12 6 0 0 24
Total 307 58 0 0 232
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
2007–13 Samoa 6 2 0 0 8
As of 01/05/2016
Source: RLP

Harrison Hansen (born 26 October 1985) is a professional rugby league footballer for Leigh Centurions of the Kingstone Press Championship. A Samoa and New Zealand international representative forward. Up until signing for Salford in 2013, he had played his entire professional career to date with Wigan Warriors. During his time with Wigan, he won two Super League Grand Finals and two Challenge Cups.

Early life

Kiwi forward Harrison is the son of ex Salford and Swinton professional Shane Hansen and is a product of the Folly Lane ARLFC who play at the Blue Ribbon Field, Swinton. Hansen attended the same Swinton school, Moorside High School, as Manchester United's Ryan Giggs. He is of Samoan, Chinese and Scottish descent.[3]

He impressed in Wigan's Academy setup and was signed on a new two-year deal in July 2003. Head coach of the time Stuart Raper said: "Harrison has impressed me this season in the Under 21s and he is another quality young player to come through the ranks joining the likes of Luke Robinson, Gareth Hock and Kevin Brown."

Rugby Executive Dean Bell commented, "Harrison possess all the right qualities to become a regular first grade player, he has come through our scholarship system and has been outstanding in our Under 21 side this season. His signing reinforces the Wigan club's ongoing commitment in developing and promoting our young players."

Club career

Harrison continued his development by being promoted to the first team setup for Super League IX. He made his first team debut in Terry O'Connor's Testimonial match against London Broncos. He went on to make six substitute appearances in the season.

In 2005, Harrison became a more established first team regular in the second row, partly due to the departure of Andy Farrell and injuries to Sean O'Loughlin and Gareth Hock. He signed a new 2-year contract with the club in April 2005. He agreed a new 4-year deal with Wigan on 14 November 2006 keeping him at the club until 2010.

Hansen's 2011's Super League XVI started with a try against St Helens during the season-opening Magic Weekend event, which was followed up with another try against Bradford the week after.[4][5] Hansen scored again in Round 3's match against Salford, however in Round 12 during a victory against Wakefield Trinity, he suffered an injury which would keep him out of action for at least a month.[6][7][8]

Hansen played for Wigan in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final at second-row forward, helping defeat Leeds 28–18.

In 2013, he signed for Salford Red Devils for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract.[9][10][11] Upon signing, he claimed it was the influence of Marwan Koukash that meant he was signing, and that joining Salford would be "a great new challenge. I have achieved everything I could at Wigan and had a great time there. I'm not just coming to Salford for an easy ride".[9]

Representative career

Eligible for England, New Zealand and Samoa, Hansen represented England at youth level. However, in 2006 he was called up into the New Zealand squad for the mid season international against Great Britain.

He later switched his allegiance to Samoa, and made his Samoa début in 2007.

He was part of the Samoan squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[12][13]

In 2009 he was named as part of the Samoan side for the Pacific Cup.[14]

Following the withdrawal of Roy Asotasi, Hansen was named Samoa's captain for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.[15]

However just before the Tournament kicked off, Harrison also suffered an injury, forcing him out of the Tournament. He handed the captaincy over to Iosia Soliola.

References

  1. ↑ HANSEN, HARRISON LUTHER MATA'AFA 2006 – KIWI #728 nzleague.co.nz
  2. 1 2 "Harrison Hansen Salford Red Devils". www.superleague.co.uk. Rugby Football League. 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Andy (30 October 2008). "Hansen goes to war for his Samoan ancestors". The Guardian (London).
  4. ↑ Bott, Richard (14 February 2011). "St Helens 16 Wigan 16: Wilkin finds spark as Saints haul back Warriors". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  5. ↑ "Bradford 10–44 Wigan". BBC. 20 February 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  6. ↑ "Warriors battle past Reds". Sky Sports. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "Wigan ease past Wildcats". Sky Sports. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  8. ↑ Hadfield, Dave (1 May 2011). "Farrell to fill Hansen's boots for Wigan". The Independent (London). Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  9. 1 2 "Red Devils sign Harrison Hansen from Warriors". Salford Red Devils Official Website. 17 December 2013.
  10. ↑ "Rugby League: Harrison Hansen leaves Wigan for Salford Red Devils". Sky Sports. 17 December 2013.
  11. ↑ "Salford: Harrison Hansen leaves Wigan to join Red Devils". BBC. 17 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  13. ↑ "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  14. ↑ Poching names strong Samoan squad therhinos.co.uk, 6 October 2009
  15. ↑ http://www.rlwc2013.com/rugby-league-world-news/article/1183/warrior-hansen-to-lead-samoa

External links

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