Ade Gardner

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]

Ade Gardner
Personal information
Full nameAdrian Antonio Gardner[1]
Born (1983-06-24) 24 June 1983
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]

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. He is the elder brother of ex-Salford City Reds wing, Mat Gardner. He is of Brazilian descent.[7] Gardner went to St Columba's Roman Catholic School and St. Bernard's Catholic High School at primary and secondary level respectively. He started 6th form but decided to concentrate on his love affair with the gym.

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.[8]

He played in the 2008 Super League Grand Final defeat by Leeds.[9]

Gardner was selected for the England squad to compete in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup tournament in Australia.[10] 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.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]

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.[23] 8 days later at KCOM Craven Park, he scored another 2 tries in Hull KR's 48–16 victory over the London Broncos.[24]

Retirement

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.[25]

References
  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. "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  7. https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-league/27996607
  8. "2008 engage Super League Dream Team". Super League. 15 September 2008. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
  9. "2008 Grand Final". BBC. 4 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  10. "Purdham earns World Cup call-up". BBC. 7 October 2008. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  11. "Rhinos Take Super League Title". Sky News. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  12. Burke, David (11 October 2009). "Smith's Crisp". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  13. AFP (11 October 2009). "Leeds makes it Super League hat-trick". ABC News. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  14. AAP (11 October 2009). "Leeds claim third successive Grand Final". nrl.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  15. Linfoot, Ben (10 October 2009). "Grand Final: Leeds Rhinos 18 St Helens 10". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  16. Correspondent (12 October 2009). "Potter refuses to blame video ref". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  17. Fletcher, Paul (10 October 2009). "St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  18. "Third time unlucky as Saints fail to halt Rhinos' charge to title". Liverpool Daily Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  19. "Sinfield hails winning culture". The Daily Mirror. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  20. Stewart, Rob (12 October 2009). "Lee Smith targets place in England rugby union team after Grand Final victory". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  21. "Sinfield hails historic title win". BBC Sport. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  22. "Leeds Rhinos fans in homecoming welcome". Yorkshire Evening Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  23. "Magic Weekend: Hull KR 38–24 Hull FC". BBC. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  24. "Rugby League – Rovers romp to London win – Yahoo Eurosport UK". Yahoo!. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  25. Bower, Aaron (7 November 2014). "Ade Gardner joins St Helens backroom team". Total Rugby League.
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