Oliver Gildart

Oliver Terrance Gildart (born 6 August 1996) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre for the Wigan Warriors in the Betfred Super League, and has played for England and Great Britain at international level.

Olly Gildart
Personal information
Full nameOliver Terrance Gildart
Born (1996-08-06) 6 August 1996
Hindley, Greater Manchester, England
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight13 st 5 lb (85 kg)
Playing information
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015– Wigan Warriors 121 56 0 0 224
2015(loan) → Workington Town 2 0 0 0 0
2015(loan) → Salford Red Devils 3 1 0 0 4
Total 126 57 0 0 228
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018– England 3 1 0 0 4
2019– Great Britain 1 0 0 0 0
As of 27 October 2019
Source: [1][2]

He has spent time on loan from Wigan at Workington Town in the Kingstone Press Championship and the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. Gildart was the winner of the 2017 Super League Young Player Of The Year. He won the 2016 and the 2018 Super League Grand Final with Wigan.

Early life

Gildart was born in Hindley, Greater Manchester, England to parents Claire[3] and Ian, a former professional rugby league footballer for Wigan, Wakefield, and Oldham.[4] He is of Italian descent through his mother, and is eligible to represent the Italian national team.[5]

Club career

2015

A product of Wigan's junior system, Gildart made his Super League début on loan for Salford Red Devils in 2015, making a total of three appearances before returning to his parent club.[6] He made his début for Wigan in the Super 8s match against Warrington Wolves on 21 August 2015, scoring a try. He then kept his place in the Wigan team for the remainder of the 2015 season, including an appearance in the 2015 Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford in only his tenth career match.[7][8]

2016

Gildart continued to show promise throughout the course of the 2016 season. One of the signature tries of the year was scored by him in an away match in Perpignan as he straightened up the line and seared his way to the try-line after a flowing length-of-the-field attack by Wigan. He became a fixture in the centres for Wigan. Gildart scored a try in the 2016 Super League Grand Final against the Warrington Wolves which brought Wigan level at 6–6 before they'd go on to win 12–6 at Old Trafford.[9]

2017

He was also part of the Wigan team who defeated NRL champions, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 22–6 to win the World Club Challenge, which ensured Oliver would join father Ian (who was an interchange in the 1987 and 1991 wins) as a World Club Challenge medal winner. Oliver also scored a try in that game. After starting the season is great form he broke three vertebrae in his back following a Brett Ferres 'crusher' tackle. Gildart was ruled out for three months. He returned with a try against the Leigh Centurions on 8 June. He scored a few weeks later against the Warrington Wolves followed by a brace against Leeds. In the Challenge Cup semi-final against Salford he scored another brace and went on to score another try in the 2017 Challenge Cup Final defeat by Hull F.C. at Wembley Stadium.[10]

Against tradition rivals St. Helens he scored the opening try followed by a slick move within the first two minutes. Just a few moments later following a Ben Barba mistake his raced 40 yards to complete his brace.

2018

He played in the 2018 Super League Grand Final victory over the Warrington Wolves at Old Trafford.[11]

2019

Gildart played 32 games for Wigan in 2019 including their shock semi-final loss against Salford.[12]

2020

Gildart played in the 2020 Super League Grand Final which Wigan lost 8-4 against St Helens.[13]

International career

In July 2018 he was selected in the England Knights Performance squad.[14]

He was selected in squad for the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour of the Southern Hemisphere.[15] He made his Great Britain test debut in the defeat by Tonga.[16]

Career Stats
Club Season Appearances Tries Goals F/G MoM Points
Wigan Warriors 2015 7 4 0 0 0 16
Workington Town 2015 2 0 0 0 0 0
Salford Red Devils 2015 3 1 0 0 1 4
Wigan Warriors 2016 30 12 0 0 1 48
2017 20 15 0 0 0 60
Total 62 32 0 0 2 128

References
  1. loverugbyleague
  2. "Oliver Gildart". Rugby League Project.
  3. Wilkinson, Phil (24 May 2017). "Warriors star's mum and sister, 10, were caught up in terror attack". Wigan Today. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  4. "Oliver follows in dad's rugby bootsteps". Leigh Journal. 26 December 2012.
  5. Wilkinson, Phil (30 March 2017). "Gildart aims to take centre stage". Wigan Today. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  6. Wilkinson, Phil (13 May 2015). "Centre Gildart gained a lot from Salford stint". Wigan Today.
  7. Walker, Gareth (8 October 2015). "Wigan starlet Oliver Gildart grew up around rugby league silverware – now he wants some of his own". Mirror.
  8. "Leeds pip Wigan to seal treble after brilliant, breathless Grand Final". Guardian. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  9. "Warrington 6-12 Wigan: Super League Grand Final – as it happened!". Guardian. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  10. "Hull FC 18-14 Wigan recap as the Black and Whites claim back-to-back Challenge Cup triumphs". Mirror. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  11. "Super League Grand Final 2018: Wigan 12-4 Warrington – as it happened". Guardian. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  12. "Salford seal maiden Super League Grand Final appearance". www.skysports.com.
  13. "Super League Grand Final: Wigan 4-8 St Helens". www.bbc.co.uk.
  14. "Ten new additions in England Knights squad". loverugbyleague. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  15. "Zak Hardaker shock inclusion in 24-man Great Britain squad for tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea". Telegraph. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  16. "Great Britain left bruised at Tonga party". Times. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
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