Mark Calderwood

Mark Calderwood
Personal information
Born (1981-10-25) 25 October 1981
London, England
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 86 kg (13 st 8 lb)[1]
Playing information
Position Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2001–05 Leeds Rhinos 142 106 0 0 424
2006–08 Wigan Warriors 72 32 0 0 128
2009–10 Hull F.C. 24 6 0 0 24
2011 Harlequins RL 14 3 0 0 12
2012–13 Workington Town 29 10 0 0 40
Total 281 157 0 0 628
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2002–12 England 9 11 0 0 44
Yorkshire
As of 15 February 2012
Source: Rugby League Project

Mark Calderwood (born 25 October 1981 in Greenwich, London) is an English professional rugby league footballer. An England international representative winger, he has played in Super League for English clubs Leeds, (with whom he won 2004's Super League IX), Wigan, Hull and Harlequins.

Early life

Born in Leeds, Mark started his playing career at Stanningley ARLFC before signing for the Leeds Rhinos Academy in 2020

Playing career

Leeds

Calderwood scored over 40-tries in his first season at the Leeds Rhinos Academy which earned him a call up into the first team in 2001. He made his début against London from the bench in the first match of the season he scored his first try for Leeds in a Challenge Cup semi-final against St. Helens and went to score 12-tries in the rest of the 2001 season. He also won the Eddie Waring Memorial Award as the best try in the 2001 Challenge Cup. Mark gained international and representative experience with England and Yorkshire. At the end of the 2001 season Mark was selected by John Kear for the England U21 tour to South Africa. He scored 4 tries in the first test, when England won 112–6 and a further 2 tries in the second test.

He is also eligible to represent Jamaica national rugby league team and the West Indies[2]

He retained his place in the England side in 2002 and was part of the squad that lost 34–12 to New Zealand. In 2002 the England A squad toured Fiji and Tonga and Mark played a part in both of England's victories, beating Fiji 44–8 and Tonga 30–18. In 2002 and 2003 Calderwood finished the leading try scorer at Leeds Rhinos and the leading try scorer for the Super League. He played for the Leeds Rhinos on the wing in their 2004 Super League Grand Final victory against the Bradford Bulls. As Super League IX champions, the Rhinos faced 2004 NRL season premiers, the Bulldogs in the 2005 World Club Challenge. Calderwood played on the wing and scored a try in Leeds' 39–32 victory.

2005 was another good season for Mark he finished leading Super League try scorer for the third time with 27 touchdowns in 28 appearances during 2005 and 35 tries in all competitions. During the season he received a runners-up medal in the 2005 Challenge Cup final, having scored a try when Leeds lost 25–24 to Hull and another runners-up medal in the 2005 Super League Grand Final when Leeds lost to Bradford 15–6. Despite his success with Leeds, Mark refused a contract extension with the Leeds and instead signed a 2-year contract with Wigan Warriors starting in 2006.

Wigan

He made his Wigan début against Catalans Dragons but it took him 3 months to get his first try for Wigan which came against Castleford Tigers in May 2006. Wigan spent most of 2006 struggling against relegation from the Super League but despite this he managed to form a good playing connection with Wigan full back Chris Ashton. Mark did miss several months of the 2006 season with an injury and finished the season with 6 tries.

Mark represented England in the 2006 Federation Shield, scoring two tries in the opening match against France. 2002 saw Mark make his début for Yorkshire in the Origin game, when Yorkshire were defeated 22–18 and retained his place in 2003, scoring a sensational try at Odsal when Yorkshire defeated Lancashire 56–6. Mark also lifted the European Nations Cup with England, helping them reach the final with a hat trick against Russia in the qualifiers and then four against France in the final, with a man of the match perforscored a hat trick of tries in Wigan's epic 31–30 playoff win over Bradford on 21 September 2007 as the Warriors fought back from a 30–6 deficit but was forced off the field in the following game against Hull with a broken bone in the bottom of his leg which forced him to miss Wigan's final game of the 2007 season against Leeds Rhinos.[3]

The next season turned out to be his final one for the club. His form was mixed throughout the campaign and was signalled out for poor performances especially in the 46–10 defeat by local rivals St Helens. Throughout his Wigan career he was criticised for not producing the form that gave him his name at Leeds, many fans thought that he had pace but was not giving everything into every match which began to have negative effect on his future at the club.

He withdrew from the Scotland training squad[4] for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup after being called up by England.[5] In September 2008 he was named in the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup,[6] and in October 2008 he was named in the final 24-man England squad.[7] He was named in the England team to face Wales at the Keepmoat Stadium prior to England's departure for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[8] but he like many other England stars produced many disappointing performances.

Hull

Mark signed for Hull for the 2009 season

Following his departure from Hull, Calderwood was linked with the likes of Wakefield Wildcats, Crusaders RL and Salford City Reds, however, no deal was reached. With John Kear the coach at Wakefield, they were the favourites to secure his signature for 2011. However, he joined Harlequins on a month-long trial, won a contract at the London side.

In May 2012, he signed for Co-operative Championship 1 side Workington Town.

References

  1. ↑ "Harlequins Rugby League". web page. Harlequins Rugby League. 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "Walker eyes Windies call-up". BBC News. 8 March 2004. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  3. ↑ "Calderwood Injury Blow". Wigan Warriors Official Website. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2007.
  4. ↑ "Henderson trio in Scots cup squad". BBC. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "Heckenberg out of the World Cup". Quins. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  6. ↑ "Myler gets England call". England Rugby League. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Purdham earns World Cup call-up". BBC. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  8. ↑ "Gleeson to lead new-look England". BBC. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
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