Simon Finnigan (born 8 December 1981) is a professional rugby league coach who is the assistant head coach at Oldham in the Betfred Championship and a former professional rugby league footballer.
He was previously the head coach of the Widnes Vikings in the Championship and was previously head coach at Newcastle Thunder and an assistant coach at the Toronto Wolfpack. An Ireland international , he played in the Super League for the Widnes Vikings, Salford City Reds, Bradford Bulls and the Huddersfield Giants, and in the Championship for the Leigh Centurions.
Background Simon Finnigan was born in Warrington, Cheshire, England, he grew up in Australia, playing for the Penrith Panthers junior teams before joining Widnes Vikings in 2003.
Club career Finnigan played three seasons in Super League for Widnes Vikings, before leaving following the club's relegation at the end of the 2005 Super League season. He subsequently joined Salford City Reds, where he played for two seasons before again leaving when the club was relegated at the end of the 2007 Super League season. He signed for Bradford Bulls in September 2007 and stayed for one year before joining Huddersfield Giants in 2009. He rejoined Widnes Vikings in 2011, before finishing his career with Leigh Centurions in 2013. He announced his retirement from the sport in January 2014.
Representative He was named in the Ireland training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and the Ireland squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
He was again named in the Ireland squad for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, and made two appearances in the tournament, his final rugby league match being Ireland's defeat against Australia.
Statistics Club career (Super League) Year Club Apps Pts T G FG 2003 Widnes Vikings1941-- 2004 Widnes Vikings25328–- 2005 Widnes Vikings264812–- 2006 Salford City Reds254812-- 2007 Salford City Reds25205-- 2008 Bradford Bulls26287--2009 Huddersfield Giants20205--2010 Huddersfield Giants741--2012 Widnes Vikings1000--
Representative career Year Team Matches Tries Goals Field Goals Points2008–13 Ireland91004
Coaching career After retiring as a player, Finnigan moved into coaching become assistant coach at the Toronto Wolfpack. In 2019 he became head coach of Newcastle Thunder then in League 1, the third tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom.
Finnigan was appointed the head coach of the Widnes Vikings in the Championship (the second tier) in November 2020 but left the club in April 2022 by "mutual consent".
References
External links Toronto Wolfpack profile Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org (archived by web.archive.org) Bradford Bulls profile (archived by web.archive.org) Ireland profile