Christopher Thorman (born 26 September 1980) is an English rugby league coach is head coach of Newcastle Thunder and a former player. An England international goal-kicking stand-off, he previously played in the Engage Super League for Hull FC, Huddersfield Giants, London Broncos and the Sheffield Eagles, as well as in the National Rugby League for the Parramatta Eels.[1] Following the sacking of Rick Stone as coach of the Huddersfield Giants,[3] he was announced as interim head coach.[4]

Chris Thorman
Personal information
Full nameChristopher Thorman
Born (1980-09-26) 26 September 1980 (age 44)
Wallsend, North Tyneside, England
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight13 st 9 lb (87 kg)
Playing information
PositionFullback, Stand-off, Scrum-half, Hooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1999 Sheffield Eagles 19 2 8 1 25
2000–02 Huddersfield-Sheffield 56 9 3 0 42
2003 London Broncos 29 8 81 1 195
2004 Parramatta Eels 11 1 1 0 6
2005–08 Huddersfield Giants 100 41 329 3 825
2009 Hull FC 21 1 0 0 4
2010–12 York City Knights 60 14 97 4 255
Total 296 76 519 9 1352
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2003 Yorkshire 1 0 0 0 0
2005 England 2 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2012 York City Knights 1 0 0 1 0
2016 Huddersfield Giants 10 4 1 5 40
2018 Huddersfield Giants 6 0 1 5 0
2019–22 Workington Town 50 16 1 33 32
2023– Newcastle Thunder 52 7 1 44 13
Total 119 27 4 88 23
Source: [1][2][3]
As of 25 Aug 2024

Background

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Born 26 September 1980 in Wallsend, North Tyneside, Thorman went to Western First School, Western Middle School and then onto Burnside Community High School (now known as Burnside Business and Enterprise College), where he was friends with former England football international Michael Carrick. His first rugby club was Newcastle Eagles (now known as Wallsend Eagles) where he played with his younger brothers, Paul and Neil, as a youngster under the watchful eye of Simon Wilkinson, the club's head coach. He was discovered by a scout and sent to regional camps and other rugby league trials. Playing for [North East U16] more and more scouts discovered the potential the young man had. At 16, he made his professional début playing for the Sheffield Eagles.

Playing career

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Thorman scored the fastest hat-trick of tries scored from the start of a match in 6 min 54 sec while playing for Huddersfield Giants against Doncaster Dragons in the semi-final of the Buddies National League Cup at Doncaster, South Yorkshire, on 19 May 2002.[5]

In 2004, Thorman made a highly anticipated move to NRL side the Parramatta Eels. Thorman struggled with form and only made 11 appearances for the club before leaving Australia and signing with The Huddersfield Giants.[6]

His representative honours include 1 game for Yorkshire, 1 game for England "A" and 2 games as England captain.[2] Thorman captained Huddersfield in the 2006 Challenge Cup Final at stand-off half back against St. Helens but the Giants lost 12–42. In June 2007 Thorman was called up to the Great Britain squad for the Test match against France[7] however missed the match with an injury to his thigh. Thorman signed a 1-year deal for Hull in the 2009 season but after a disappointing season for Hull he was sold to York City Knights. In March 2011, Thorman set a record for the highest individual score in the Challenge Cup by scoring 56 points as York won 132–0 over Northumbria University.[8][9]

Coaching career

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In June 2012, Thorman announced to be joining Super League's Huddersfield Giants as an assistant coach at the end of the season.

On 3 May 2019, Thorman was appointed head coach at Workington Town, following the departure of former boss Leon Pryce. His move followed his resignation from his first management job at Huddersfield Giants.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Rick Stone: Huddersfield Giants sack coach after poor start to season". BBC Sport. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Fastest rugby league hat-trick". guinnessworldrecords.com. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  6. ^ Wilson, Andy (28 July 2004). "Rugby League: Huddersfield seal another transfer coup as Thorman returns". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "Eight new faces in Lions squad". BBC. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
  8. ^ "Records tumble as York City Knights trounce students 132-0". The Press. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Challenge Cup: First Round wrap-up". Rugby-League.com. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Workington appoint Chris Thorman as new coach". guinnessworldrecords.com. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
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