Warrior #1 himself, Dean Bell speaks on the unique opportunity for young players in the upcoming U18 Dean Bell Cup. The inaugural competition is set to take place in March, alongside the U16 Shaun Johnson Shield.

Development camps are kicking off next month from the new dates of December 4th-5th (postponed from 27th-28th November due to COVID-19 restraints). Registered players and parents will be contacted directly regarding any restrictions or requirements that may be in place.

Dean Bell kicked off his rugby league career in 1979 with the Manukau Magpies in the Auckland Rugby League competition. Bell then headed over to the UK where he enjoyed immense success with Wigan (Accolades and full profile below).

In 1995, Bell historically returned home to become Warrior #1 and captain the Auckland Warriors in their inaugural season. Following his playing career, Bell has continued his contributions to rugby league locally working in the area of youth development and taking on significant roles at the Warriors, including General Manager of Football.

The U16 Shaun Johnson Shield and U18 Dean Bell Cup pre-season programmes are a new development venture launched by the Auckland Rugby League and New Zealand Warriors, with the support of New Zealand Rugby League.

Players can register for these programmes here:

U18 Dean Bell Cup - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8NTL2QT

U16 Shaun Johnson Shield - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8X2QGP2

NOTE: Registrations will be closing on the 3^rd of December.

DEAN BELL PROFILE

Born: April 29, 1962

Birthplace: Auckland, NZ

Vodafone Warriors positions: General manager football 2013-2015, recruitment and development manager 2011-2013, NRL team manager 2009-2010, recruitment manager 2009-2010, under-20 team manager 2008-2009, welfare and education manager 2007

Other positions: NZ Kiwis football manager 2008-2009, Wigan rugby executive 2000-2007, Leeds head coach 1996-97, Leeds academy head coach 1998-99

Clubs: New Zealand – Manukau, Auckland Warriors; England – Carlisle, Leeds, Wigan; Australia – Eastern Suburbs

Representative: New Zealand, New Zealand Maori, Auckland, South Island, Oceania, Rest of the World, Cumbria

Playing career:

   New Zealand: 26 Tests 1983-1989, four Tests as captain including 1988

       World Cup final, 11 tries, Kiwi No: 574

   New Zealand: 10 tour matches 1985-1987, 4 tries

   Auckland Warriors: 19 games 1995, 3 tries, captain, Warriors No: 1        

   Wigan: 253 games 1986-1994, 96 tries, Wigan No: 830

   Eastern Suburbs: 40 games 1985-88, 8 tries, Roosters No: 779

   Leeds: 22 games 1983-84, 4 tries, Leeds No: 1132

   Carlisle – 23 games 1982-83, 11 tries

Achievements:

Wigan: Challenge Cup winner seven times, three as captain; championship winner six times; John Player Trophy winner five times; premiership winner two times; Lancashire Cup winner four times; world sevens winner once; Lance Todd Trophy winner 1993; Man of Steel winner 1992

New Zealand: NZRL Player of the Year 1987, NZ Maori Sports Personality of the Year 1994, Inducted into NZRL ‘Immortals’, Inducted into NZRL ‘Legends’

Others: Inducted into Wigan ‘Hall of Fame’, ‘This is Your Life’ recipient

KEY PROGRAMME DETAILS

The programme kicks off with development camps for each of the age groups. Each age group will be separated into four groups based on location: Tāmaki ki te Raki – Auckland North, Tāmaki ki te Rawhiti – Auckland East, Tāmaki ki te Tonga – Auckland South, and Tāmaki ki te Uru – Auckland West.

Dates for the development camps:

U18 Dean Bell Cup: 5th December* | 12th December | 16th January

U16 Shaun Johnson Shield: 4th December* | 11th December | 15th January

*NOTE: The first weekend of development camps planned for 27th-28th November has been postponed due to COVID-19 restraints and will now take place on the following weekend of 4th-5th December.

The competitions will be a mini pre-season competition to be run over four weeks:

12-13th March | 19-20th March | 26-27th March | 2-3rd April

Following the competition, a Warriors U18 Development Team will be selected along with an Auckland U16 Team to tour Australia during the April School Holidays.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send them to Rugby League Development Officer TJ Ashford - thaine.a@aucklandleague.co.nz

Article added: Thursday 25 November 2021