Ade Gardner

Ade Gardner
Personal information
Full nameAdrian Antonio Gardner[1]
Born (1983-06-24) 24 June 1983 (age 41)
Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England
Playing information
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight14 st 11 lb (94 kg)[2]
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2000–01 Barrow Raiders 31 16 0 0 64
2002–14 St Helens 289 173 0 0 692
2013(loan) → Whitehaven 1 0 0 0 0
2014(loan) → Whitehaven 1 1 0 0 4
2014(loan) → Hull Kingston Rovers 18 8 0 0 32
Total 340 198 0 0 792
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2002–03 England A 6 5 0 0 20
2003 Cumbria 1 0 0 0 0
2005–08 England 5 2 0 0 8
2006–07 Great Britain 5 3 0 0 12
Source: [3][4][5][6]

Adrian Antonio Gardner (born 24 June 1983) is an English former professional rugby league footballer, who spent the vast majority of his career with St Helens in the Super League.[3][4] He was an England and Great Britain representative winger.[5][6]

Early and personal life

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Born in Barrow-in-Furness, Gardner is the elder brother of ex-Salford City Reds wing, Mat Gardner. He is of Brazilian descent through his mother.[7] Gardner attended St. Bernard's Catholic High School in Barrow.[8]

Career

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He began his career at his home town club Barrow Raiders, and after 11-years at St. Helens, ended his playing days with a season loan move to the Hull Kingston Rovers.

Gardner made his Super League début in a match against the London Broncos on 28 March 2002, which St. Helens lost. Having won Super League VI, St. Helens contested the 2003 World Club Challenge against 2002 NRL Premiers, the Sydney Roosters. Gardner played on the wing in Saints' 38–0 loss. He established himself as a first team regular in 2003 and has now appeared 281 times for St Helens, scoring 167 tries. Gardner played for St Helens on the wing in their 2006 Challenge Cup Final victory against Huddersfield Giants. Gardner also finished the 2006 season as St. Helens leading try scorer with 29 tries in all competitions.

Gardner was named in the Great Britain training squad throughout 2006. He scored on his international début in XXXX Test match against New Zealand on 27 June 2006.

St. Helens reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against Hull FC, and Gardner played on the wing and scored a try in Saints' 26–4 victory. He was a surprise omission from the Great Britain squad for the 2006 Tri-nations. As 2006 Super League champions, St Helens faced 2006 NRL Premiers the Brisbane Broncos in the 2007 World Club Challenge. Gardner played on the wing and scored two tries in Saints' 18–14 victory.

Gardner was selected in June 2007 in a young Great Britain team named by new coach Tony Smith for their match against France at Headingley. On 25 August, he scored two tries for St. Helens at Wembley Stadium to help Saints win their 11th Challenge Cup.

He was named in the Super League Dream Team for 2008's Super League XIII season.[9]

He played in the 2008 Super League Grand Final defeat by Leeds.[10]

Gardner was selected for the England squad to compete in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup tournament in Australia.[11] Group A's first match against Papua New Guinea he played on the wing and scored two tries in England's victory.

He played in the 2009 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[12]

In the 2014 season, Ade Gardner played on loan at Hull KR, scoring 8 tries in 18 appearances. On 17 May at the Etihad Stadium during the 2014 Magic Weekend, he scored 2 tries in Hull KR's 38–24 victory against Hull.[13] 8 days later at KCOM Craven Park, he scored another 2 tries in Hull KR's 48–16 victory over the London Broncos.[14]

Retirement

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In November 2014, after returning to St Helens, Ade Gardner announced his retirement from the sport after 15 years as a professional. It had been Gardner's intention to play on till 2015, but accepted an offer to join Saints' backroom staff instead, as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Jon Wilkin column". BBC Sport. 28 February 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Meet the Teams First Team Players". web page. Saints RFC. 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Hull KR: Ade Gardner eyes 2016 Olympics with Brazil sevens team". BBC News. 24 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Keep it old school with chance to buy your former rugby jerseys so St Bernard's High in Barrow can fund new kit". The Mail. 20 February 2017.
  9. ^ "2008 engage Super League Dream Team". Super League. 15 September 2008. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
  10. ^ "2008 Grand Final". BBC. 4 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  11. ^ "Purdham earns World Cup call-up". BBC. 7 October 2008. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  12. ^ Fletcher, Paul (10 October 2009). "St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Magic Weekend: Hull KR 38–24 Hull FC". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  14. ^ "Rugby League – Rovers romp to London win – Yahoo Eurosport UK". Yahoo!. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  15. ^ Bower, Aaron (7 November 2014). "Ade Gardner joins St Helens backroom team". Total Rugby League.
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