Harris lives in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. He has a sister, Rhian (her children are Dewi and Emrys), and he is married to Becky Harris, by whom he had his first and, to date, only daughter, Catrin.
He set up RLPredictor.com, a rugby league prediction website company, but the website failed to take off and is now non-operational.
Early Rugby League career
Warrington
His career in rugby began with league club Warrington, before a record breaking £350,000 transfer to Leeds Rhinos in 1997 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £530,000 in 2007).[2]
Leeds Rhinos
Harris was made captain of Leeds in his first full season at the club at the age of twenty one, and became the first Leeds skipper in a decade to lift silverware when Leeds claimed the 1999 Challenge Cup.
Harris initially played at full back before being switched to stand-off. In 1998, he collected the annual Man of Steel trophy as the best player in Super League. A superb goal-kicker, he broke the club record for goals in a season in 1999 with 168, and broke the 2,000 career points total two years later.
Iestyn Harris holds the joint record for scoring the most points in a Challenge Cup Final, he scored 20-points (1-try and 8-goals) in Leeds Rhinos victory over London Broncos in the 1999 Challenge Cup Final. This feat equalled the record set by Neil Fox (2-tries and 7-goals) in Wakefield Trinity's victory over Hull in the 1960 Challenge Cup Final.
Cardiff and Wales RU
In 2001, Harris made a £1.5 million (based on average earnings, this would be approximately £1,890,000 in 2007)[2] switch to Cardiff RFC and Wales, hailed as the "saviour of Welsh rugby" who would help Wales return to the glory years of the 1970s. It is rumoured that England coach Sir Clive Woodward repeatedly offered Harris a place in the England side, in preparation for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.[citation needed]
Harris was expected to be the next Welsh fly-half, a position which Wales had been blessed with great players in the past.
Début for Wales Rugby Union Side
Harris made his début for the Welsh side on 10 November 2001, playing against Argentina in Cardiff; Wales lost 16–30. Having played only 200 minutes of rugby union before his international début, Harris struggled, particularly with his tactical kicking. This led to a move to inside centre, where he could be creative with less pressure.
World Cup 2003
Harris played in the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, where Wales lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winners, England, despite leading the game for 60 minutes. Harris proved to be a good union player, winning 25 Wales caps, but nowhere near the mercurial heights expected of him and his price tag.[3]
Return to Rugby League
Bradford Bulls
File:Iestyn Harris There and Back cover.jpg
In 2004, Harris returned to rugby league, citing family reasons. He joined the Bradford Bulls after a contractual fight with former club Leeds. His salary was reputed to be £1 million over 4 seasons.[4]
Harris wrote a book, published in October 2005, detailing his moves between codes called Iestyn Harris: There and Back - My Journey from League to Union and Back Again.[5] Harris was part of the 2005 Bradford Bulls squad that became the first side in the history of Super League to win the Grand Final when finishing third in the final league ladder.
Iestyn was Bradford Bulls captain for one year in 2006 taking over from Leeds-bound Jamie Peacock. In his time as captain Bradford Bulls won the 2006 Carnegie World Club Challenge after defeating 2005's Australian Champions, the Wests Tigers. On 10 May 2006, Harris announced he would be retiring from playing international rugby league with Great Britain, just a week after being named in a 36-strong training squad for a June 2006 Test against New Zealand. [6] Harris, who won the last of his 15 caps against Australia in November 2005, says he wanted to concentrate on his club career. On 26 September 2006, he confirmed that he would continue to play for Wales, and was scheduled to return to the side against Scotland at the Brewery Field, Bridgend in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying match on Sunday 29 October 2006. He was forced to pull out through injury hours before kick-off.
Harris kicked a club record 15 goals against Toulouse Olympique in a record 98 - 6 win on 19 April 2008. Iestyn Harris had been linked to a player-coach role with Celtic Crusaders, but he decided to sign for National League One club Featherstone Rovers instead.
Featherstone Rovers
Harris signed a 2 year deal at Featherstone Rovers, as well as playing, he also took his first steps into coaching and working in the marketing department of the club. On announcement of his tenure as assistant coach to Brian Noble at Celtic Crusaders, he agreed termination of his contract at Featherstone Rovers and an immediate end to his playing career.[7]
Coaching Career
Wales National Rugby League National team
While still playing for the Bradford Bulls, Harris was appointed Wales Assistant Coach on 18 June 2008. On 22 September 2009, Harris was appointed Wales's rugby league head coach, succeeding John Dixon. Appointed alongside Harris were the more experienced Kevin Ellis and Clive Griffiths, and the trio's first match will be facing England on 17 October.[8]
Celtic Crusaders
On October 14, 2009, Harris was announced as assistant coach to Brian Noble at Celtic Crusaders, alongside Jon Snow.[7]
^ ab"Measuring Worth - Relative Value of UK Pounds". Measuring Worth. 2003-04-23. Retrieved 2008-10-03. Cite error: The named reference "Measuring Worth - Relative Value of UK Pounds" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
