Tony Clubb

Tony Clubb (born 12 June 1987) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the Wigan Warriors in the Betfred Super League and has played for England at international level.[2][3]

Tony Clubb
Personal information
Full nameAnthony Clubb
Born (1987-06-12) 12 June 1987[1]
Gravesend, Kent, England
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Weight17 st 11 lb (113 kg)[1]
Playing information
PositionProp, Loose forward, Second-row, Centre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–13 London Broncos 149 43 0 0 172
2014– Wigan Warriors 153 21 1 0 86
Total 302 64 1 0 258
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–10 England 4 6 0 0 24
As of 16 December 2020
Source: [2][3][4]

He played for London under the guises of Harlequins RL and the London Broncos in the Super League.

Background

Clubb was born in Gravesend, Kent, England.

London Rugby League

He is a London Broncos club-trained player having featured in the first team from 2006 until 2013.

Tony Clubb started his rugby career playing for his local team Gravesend at Rugby Union. He switched to Rugby League after London Broncos helped found the Greenwich Admirals in 2001. The Admirals produced several professional players including Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Dave Williams and Michael Worrincy, each of who played for Greenwich, the London Broncos Academy and went on to play in the first team.

By the time Clubb was ready to make his first team début, the London Broncos had been pushed into a kind of merger with Harlequins Rugby Union club and thus the team was called Harlequins RL by the time he played in the away fixture against the Bradford Bulls on 18 February 2006; a game which ended in a draw after the Bulls were awarded a controversial late equalizing penalty opportunity.

Clubb was seen as very much a fill in for the first team and was thus made available for the Harlequins rugby union side in the Middlesex Sevens at Twickenham Stadium.[5] He was, however, unable to play as he was called back for Harlequins RL to replace the unavailable Paul Sykes - who missed most of 2006's Super League XI - in the match against Wigan Warriors.

Clubb was regarded as an outside back in London and featured mainly as a centre with the odd game as a wing. In 2008, England Rugby League was short of quality in the outside backs with the likes of Paul Sykes, Ade Gardner, Mark Calderwood and Martin Gleeson selected for the World Cup.

Clubb playing for Harlequins RL

Clubb thus represented England in the backs between 2008 and 2010.[4]

Clubb playing for Harlequins RL

After this, he became arguably a better player as he grew stronger and heavier and he started to play as an interchange forward but there was genuine quality competing for forward positions so his international career was unknowingly ended by his change of positions, barring an unexpected call-up after an eight-year absence.

He went on to play more than 150 games for Harlequins RL and London Broncos in all competitions, eventually becoming the Captain, though by that time he was already seeking to leave the club as his enthusiasm waned.

In 2013, the team now known as London Broncos had serious financial problems and faced potential liquidation as owner David Hughes wobbled in his support.

The Wigan Warriors[6] took full advantage by exploiting the situation to their fullest advantage. They approached Clubb despite him still having a contract, plus signed the out-of-contract England Knights half-back Dan Sarginson. London Broncos received a nominal fee for two of the best three club trained players they had ever produced and the next season was their last in Super League.[6]

2014

Clubb was a utility player perceived by some Wigan supporters as an outside back due to his international appearances but by the manager as a squad man who could play as a forward. He was on the bench 14 times, made 9 starts and was omitted from the squad for the other games. By the end of end of the season, he was mainly used as an interchange prop. He also scored seven tries including a brace against his former side London Broncos. He helped Wigan to the Super League Grand Final but was a losing finalist as Wigan lost against St Helens in a game infamous for Ben Flower knocking Lance Hohaia unconscious then continuing to attack him leading to a red card in the 3rd minute of the match. Ironically his long-term friend Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook was on the winning side.

2015

Clubb was moved permanently to the front row at the start of the new Super League season after expressing his desire to play at prop.[7] Clubb made 26 appearances scoring tries against Wakefield Trinity and Warrington Wolves. In late May he signed a new deal just 18 months into his original 4-year contract due to his impressive performances and also the fact that his original deal did not really reflect his ability.[8]

Clubb made his second appearance at Old Trafford in the Super League Grand Final and again did not win the Grand Final, losing out to the Leeds Rhinos 22-20 at Old Trafford.[9]

2016

Clubb started the season impressively making 15 appearances and scoring one try before an illegal crusher tackle against Hull FC saw him requiring surgery. Due to the crusher tackle he did not play for another nine months meaning he was not part of the squad that won the 2016 Super League Grand Final against Warrington, thus he has still not been on the winning side at Old Trafford despite Wigan's three visits in three years.

2017

After nine months out he made his comeback against Salford Red Devils in Round 1 of Super League. He played an important role against Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks helping Wigan to win the World Club Challenge for a record-breaking fourth time. His early season form was not overly impressive and after he withdrew early against Castleford Tigers it was announced that he was to have surgery to remove a kidney which had been troubling him. Incredibly just two months later he made his comeback against Widnes Vikings helping Wigan to a 28–12 victory.

He played an important role in the narrow Challenge Cup final loss, his controversially disallowed try the reason Hull FC claimed the trophy. Hull coach Lee Radford said after the game "I honestly thought that was a try for Tony Clubb".[10] After the ball was stolen from Clubb he grounded the ball however the video referee deemed he had lost control of the ball, therefore, had knocked on.[11]

The controversy increased a week later when St Helens were awarded a similar try against Wigan in the Super League. In total Clubb played 22 times scoring one try for a feeble Wigan team that finished in the bottom half of the table.

2018

In the 2018 season, Wigan Warriors released eight players including stars like McIlorum and Gelling but made only two signings. This saw many players handed a lower number than before and Clubb was handed the number 8 shirt after Wigan released Frank-Paul Nu'uausala. This was the first time since his days at London Broncos that Clubb was given a number that suggested he was in the starting line-up.[12]

He played in the 2018 Super League Grand Final victory over the Warrington Wolves at Old Trafford.[13]

2019

Clubb played 23 games for games for Wigan in 2019 including their shock semi-final loss against Salford.[14]

2020

Clubb played in the 2020 Super League Grand Final which Wigan lost 8-4 against St Helens.[15]

Career Statistics
Club Season Appearances Tries Points
London Broncos 2006 8 1 4
2007 6 1 4
2008 22 8 32
2009 24 6 24
2010 28 7 28
2011 29 13 52
2012 26 6 24
2013 9 1 4
Total 149 43 172
Wigan Warriors 2014 23 7 28
2015 26 2 8
2016 15 1 4
2017 22 1 4
Total 86 11 44
Total 199 44 176

England Rugby League

Clubb has previously been selected in the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[16]

He was selected for the team to face Wales at the Keepmoat Stadium prior to England's departure for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[17]

He made his England début in the victory over Wales on 10 October 2008.[18]

On 6 November 2010 he became the tenth ever England rugby league player to score 4 tries in an international fixture. This was achieved in England's 36–10 win over Papua New Guinea in their last match of the 2010 Four Nations tournament.

References
  1. "Tony Clubb Wigan Warriors". www.superleague.co.uk. Rugby Football League. 2015. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2015.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. "Amesbury to captain Quins Sevens squad". Quins. 19 August 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
  6. "Wigan Sign Sarginson and Clubb". Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  7. "Tony aims to keep place in the Clubb". www.wigantoday.net. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  8. "Clubb signs new deal at Warriors". www.wigantoday.net. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  9. "Leeds pip Wigan to seal treble after brilliant, breathless Grand Final". Guardian. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  10. "Radford: I thought Tony Clubb's was a try - Serious About Rugby League". Serious About Rugby League. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  11. "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.
  12. "Wigan confirm 2018 squad numbers - with an interesting change. - Total Rugby League". Total Rugby League. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  13. "Super League Grand Final 2018: Wigan 12-4 Warrington – as it happened". Guardian. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  14. "Salford seal maiden Super League Grand Final appearance". www.skysports.com.
  15. "Super League Grand Final: Wigan 4-8 St Helens". www.bbc.co.uk.
  16. "Myler gets England call". England Rugby League. 29 September 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  17. "Gleeson to lead new-look England". BBC. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
  18. "England warm up in style". Sky Sports. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
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