New Zealand rugby league footballer
Adrian Tremain Shelford
[2]
(4 January 1964 ? 19 September 2003) was a New Zealand
rugby league
footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for
New Zealand
, and at club level for
Wigan
and
Wakefield Trinity
(
Heritage No. 984
) in the
Championship
as well as the
Newcastle Knights
and
Manly Sea Eagles
in the
NSWRL Premiership
, as a
prop
.
Background
[
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]
Shelford was born in
Christchurch
, New Zealand.
Early years
[
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]
Shelford played for Hornby and
Canterbury
before moving to Wellington to advance his career. He was named the
Canterbury Rugby League
Player of the Year in 1984. He made the
Junior Kiwis
in 1982 and 1983.
[3]
In Wellington, Shelford joined the Upper Hutt Tigers.
Professional career
[
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]
Shelford moved to England in 1987 with both
St Helens R.F.C.
and
Wigan
claiming to have secured his signature. Shelford eventually joined Wigan after it was ruled by the High Court that he had not entered into a binding commitment to play for Saints. He appeared in 21 matches for Wigan and was part of the
Challenge Cup
winning side that beat
Halifax
32?12 before 94,273 spectators at
Wembley Stadium
.
After a short stint with the
Newcastle Knights
during the 1988 season, he was back at Wigan. He played in 40 games during the
1988?89 season
, the most matches by any player at the club. Shelford featured in the
Challenge Cup
Final win over St. Helens by 27?0 in front of a crowd of 78,000 spectators. Shelford played at
prop
and scored a
try
in Wigan's 22?17 victory over
Salford
in the
1988 Lancashire Cup
Final during the
1988?89 season
at
Knowsley Road
on Sunday 23 October 1988.
[4]
Shelford played at
prop
(replaced by
interchange
/
substitute
Andy Goodway
on 20-minutes) in Wigan's 12-6 victory over
Widnes
in the
1988?89 John Player Special Trophy
Final during the
1988?89 season
at
Burnden Park
,
Bolton
on Saturday 7 January 1989.
[5]
Shelford played 22 matches for the Wigan club in the 1989/90 season, and was back again at Wembley Stadium to help Wigan to a win over
Warrington
. "He was someone that would do the hard yards and lay the platform for the backs," said former team-mate
Kevin Iro
.
[
citation needed
]
Shelford had a stint with
Manly
in the Australian competition in 1990, appearing in 11 matches, with most of those coming off the bench.
Shelford headed over to
Wakefield Trinity
during the
1990?91 season
, playing 28 games. Shelford played at
prop
in
Wakefield Trinity
's 8?11 defeat by
Castleford
in the
1990 Yorkshire Cup
Final during the
1990?91 season
at
Elland Road
on Sunday 23 September 1990. He was involved in eight games in
1991?92 season
with
Wakefield Trinity
before finishing the season with four games for the
Sheffield Eagles
.
Representative career
[
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]
Shelford represented the New Zealand Under 17's in 1981 and was a
Junior Kiwi
the following year while playing for Christchurch club Hornby. In 1984, his first full senior year, he made his debut for
South Island
. He played 11 provincial games for
Canterbury
before being chosen to tour Great Britain and France with the
New Zealand national rugby league team
in 1985. He was involved in 11 games on that tour but did not feature in any of the Test matches.
He moved to Wellington club Upper Hutt in 1986 and went on to represent
the district
in 10 provincial matches between 1986 and 1987. He represented the
New Zealand M?ori
in the
1986 Pacific Cup
.
[6]
He made his Test debut in 1987 against Papua New Guinea at Goroka and Port Moresby before taking on the Australians in 1987 in which the Kiwis scored a famous 13?6 win over the world champions at Lang Park.
“We were confident of beating the Aussies. We have a side that I believe is the best in the world, which is good for the game in New Zealand," Shelford said at the time.
[
citation needed
]
He played just four games, including one test, on the 1989 tour of Great Britain before being injured. Overall, he appeared in eight test matches as well as representing the Rest of the World in 1988 against Australia at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Personal life
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]
Shelford's league career was ended by a knee injury at the age of 27.
[7]
Shelford planned for life after rugby league by graduating with honours from Edge Hill University. He was teaching at a local high school in Wigan, England and had just gained promotion when he died on 19 September 2003 of a heart attack, aged 39.
[8]
Shelford's cousin
Buck Shelford
played
rugby union
for the
All Blacks
. His son
Kyle Shelford
made his debut for
Wigan Warriors
against the
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
on Friday 8 July 2016
[9]
and his eldest son Dane Shelford represented
Junior All Blacks
at the
2015 under 19 Rugby World Championship
in
South Africa
.
References
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]
External links
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]