Latest news with #BrianNoble
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Footy legend turned TV star Bryan Fletcher reveals his coach's disgusting and VERY unhygienic toilet act as he gave a halftime speech
Rugby league legend Bryan Fletcher has revealed a very unhygienic act his former coach at Wigan once performed during a halftime speech to his disgusted team. Fletcher, 51, played for the Wigan Warriors in England between 2006 and 2007 - and the Fox Sports TV star recalled Brian Noble once tried to fire up his team in diabolical circumstances. 'He (Noble) was kicking back doing the (halftime) speech from the brasco (toilet),' Fletcher said on SEN. 'At the time the door was open and he was doing an 'Edgar' (Edgar Britt - rhyming slang for defecating). 'He was telling "Bails" (teammate Phil Bailey) to move up in defence while he was folding (toilet paper)....then he told me, "Hey Fletch, you need to stop missing all these tackles".' Fletcher then said Noble was deadly serious during his team address - before adding his coach was also a 'looker'. Affectionately known as 'Fletch', the backrower made his NRL debut with the Roosters in 1997 and won a premiership in 2002. He then joined bitter rivals South Sydney for three seasons before finishing his footy career in 2007 with English glamour club Wigan. In 2014 Fletcher join the Fox League team - and over a decade later, remains on their books. The father of three also recently landed $7500 after a bold pre-game bet during Magic Round that Knights star Fletcher Sharpe would score a hat-trick versus the Rabbitohs. Away from footy, Fletcher's life is just as colourful. Last November he opened up about the bizarre medical treatment he received after suffering a nasty surfing injury while holidaying in Indonesia. The former Roosters star was on a surfing holiday at Telo Island off the west coast of Sumatra when he cut his foot while trying to get back into a boat. Fletcher's wound was serious and required stitches - and fortunately, help wasn't far away. 'There was a team of doctors in a nearby house, which was perfect,' he told SEN. 'The guy was a neurosurgeon, but my mates wouldn't allow him to do it until after dinner when he was blind [drunk]. They were feeding him tequila and he couldn't even stand up. 'I was encouraging it all, and he nailed it. I've got no scar because he did such a good job. Even though he couldn't really stand up.
BBC News
07-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Noble plots big-time return for ambitious Bradford
Betfred Challenge Cup round three: Bradford Bulls v Castleford TigersVenue: Odsal Stadium Date: Sunday, 9 February Kick-off: 13:00 GMTCoverage: Watch live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport app There was a time where Brian Noble would not even set foot in Odsal had played just short of 400 first-grade games for Bradford, won championships, captained the club, and notably coached the club to a period of unprecedented departing at the end of 2005, there was nothing. On the advice of a mentor he severed contact. Until his epiphany."I went back and I looked at the ground where I'd played all those games from colts upwards and I thought 'this is where you live, this is your home, this is your turf'," Noble told BBC persuaded the 63-year-old to invest his time and years of expertise into his hometown club, first, in an advisory O'Carroll's decision to step down and move to St Helens as part of Paul Wellens' staff prompted a decision to be made this past autumn, and led to Noble's startling return as head coach for the first time in 20 years."It was about time I put something back into it," Noble said."I was kind of pushing behind the scenes to go for it and let's establish ourselves a good team, we've made progress with lots done and there's lots to do, and with Eamon wanting to jump back into full-time at St Helens there was a chance the progress could have been de-stabilised." Bulls 'not frightened to express ambition' There is a very different landscape at Bradford from the one which Noble left holding a Super League title at the end of a remarkable campaign back in Bulls were liquidated in 2017, one of many low points in the following two decades in which the club's status as a major player has been seriously John Kear, they fought their way back from the bottom tier to become a Championship mainstay, and recent third-place finishes under interim coach Lee Greenwood [currently assistant] and O'Carroll have suggested Bradford are again pushing for a top-flight with the move to a grading system as part of the IMG strategic partnership, Bradford needs to stand up to scrutiny on and off the field."There's been a lot of work done over the last few years in trying to get the club to where it wants to be which is back in the Super League, we're not frightened to express that ambition," Noble said."We don't want to compete at the top of the Championship, we want to be in the Super League."Nigel Wood and Jason Hirst deserve great credit for how it's been turned around. Now the football staff have the same mission, we've had a couple of third-place finishes, if we improve on that let's ask the question of IMG." 'You have to commit to be successful - I can do that' Away from rugby league, Noble is a voracious reader, turning to the world of business, culture and history for imagination and inspiration, and has taken plenty from famous coaches such as NFL legend Bill from the hurly-burly of coaching can be sought by watching his fish swim around their tank. It is surprisingly his last coaching role at Salford ended in 2014 when he stepped up to become director of rugby on a short-term basis, the former Great Britain boss has had overseeing roles at the now-defunct Toronto Wolfpack, where he was in charge of recruitment and development amongst other is at the senior end of the coaching spectrum, but is adamant he remains contemporary and fresh."The game in its purest form hasn't changed that much, there are still certain rules and regulations that you have to apply to if you want to win a game of rugby league," he said."Defence hasn't changed that much, other than in what you're technically allowed to do. What we're seeing quite a change in is defensive systems and the type of football because of the tackle target areas."But if you have a fundamental grasp of how you stop people and you always have had and know how to coach that, you'll not be bad off."Whether Noble still had the energy to do the job, to put himself out for Bradford, was always the main question. "I don't fear on the competency side, I've kept up to speed, I've watched trends, watch rugby league both sides of the world and still have a lot of friends that I swap notes with, so I wasn't ever really worried on that," he said."You do have to commit to be successful. We speak to the players all the time about commitment and making sacrifices and having the discipline to fulfil their goals, hopes and aspirations. So I took the decision that, yeah, I can do that." Up for the cup During his first spell, where trophies were collected like kids collecting football stickers, Bradford were twice Challenge Cup winners - in 2000 and 2003 - and lost in three finals between 1996 and will once again get a crack at the historic cup, a competition in which he commentated on the final last season, as Castleford come to is top-flight opposition and a little reminder, for those of a certain age, that such opponents were a regular fixture at the stadium until only tie will be an interesting barometer of progress."It's a Super League club, it's a step up for us, a step up in attitude and our behaviours," Noble said."We've gone well in pre-season, but they've got some really talented players, a new rhythm and a new head coach [Danny McGuire - who he coached] who is going to want to impress."I'm not sure they'll be looking forward to coming to Odsal, I hope not, but we'll have to be at our best to compete."I think we can, and we've a few ideas that might upset them a little bit."The wily Noble still has a few tricks up his sleeve and the sparkle is still there.
