STEVE HANLEY

SALE 1998-2008 191 GAMES ESEEGGAMESGAMES

Born 11 June 1979 in Whitehaven, Steve signed with Sale in 1998 from Aspatria ,three years after the game went professional.. With a on the cards, Hanley was one of two Sale players to make their international debut in England's final match of their 1999 Five Nations campaign at Wembley, along with Barrie-Jon Mather. Although Steve scored a try, he also was handed-off by Craig Quinnell and suffered a broken arm as Wales came back to win 32–31. It was the only match he would play for the senior England team. In 2001, he trained with rugby league side St. Helens to improve his defence Reflecting in 2005 on why he was unable to break into the England team after 1999, Steve said "They had a settled side under Clive [Woodward] and once you were in, it was hard to get out as the team was winning all the time".[7]

Steve was named the club's "Player of the Season in 2003.When Philippe Saint-André joined Sale as their coach in March 2004 Steve said of Saint-André's effect on Sale- "He has brought a lot of different ideas to the club, people have stood up and taken notice of him. He has a special interest in his wingers and has lots of good ideas and little technical things only a player who has played the class of rugby he has would know.

In the final Premiership match of the 2004/05 season, Steve suffered a broken leg. The injury was sustained in a 22–43 defeat to Wasps in May as Sale finished third in the league. It forced him to miss the European Challenge Cup Final against Pau, although he had played in every match of the club's campaign. Sale won 27–3, their first piece of silverware since 2002. Hanley scored 15 tries in the season, nine of which were in the Premiership. Sale's back three – made up of Hanley, , and – scored more tries than any other club. Continued………………………………………. 2

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There was a friendly rivalry between Hanley and fellow Sale winger Mark Cueto to see who would finish each season as the club's leading try-scorer. Hanley recovered from his broken leg and returned to first team rugby on 17 August 2005, scoring a try in Sale's 26–23 win over Castres Olympique in the Heineken Cup. In 2006, Steve was named Sale's "Community Player of the Season". That 2005–2006 season, he made just 8 appearances as won their first ever Premiership title. Injury and retirement[

During a Challenge Cup match against Bayonne in December 2007, Steve suffered a back injury. Unable to recover, in July 2008 he announced his retirement from rugby. In his ten- year career with Sale, he played 191 matches, scoring 104 tries. The advice was-, "the medical advice is that I will not be able to play again". He finished his career with 75 Premiership tries, a record at the time later surpassed by his great rival at Sale Sharks, Mark Cueto in 2013.

The following season, 2008/09, the club held a testimonial for Hanley. He commented that "For me, it's been so nice to get back in touch with everybody. You play with these guys for so long and when you are in a rugby environment they are some of your best mates. But when they drift away you tend to lose contact with people so it has been brilliant to catch up with so many old friends

He has retained connections with Sale since retiring from playing and worked in club's commercial department between 2009 and 2015.

Steve now runs his own sporting hospitality and events business- First and Last and is a popular and active exponent on the after dinner circuit.