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12 Facts About Dean Lance

1.

Dean Lance was born on 4 April 1959 and is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach, and current football manager at the North Queensland Cowboys of the NRL.

2.

Dean Lance played in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in the 1980s for the Newtown and Canberra clubs, captaining the Raiders for almost 5 years and winning two premierships with them.

3.

Dean Lance started playing first grade in the Sydney premiership in 1982 for the Newtown Jets, but at the end of the following year the club exited the competition.

4.

Dean Lance moved to the Canberra Raiders and after a few games in lime green was moved to the back row, where he established a reputation as one of the hardest workers in the NSWRL, despite conceding 10 kilograms in weight to most rivals.

5.

Dean Lance was named captain of the Raiders in 1986 and played in his first Grand Final for Canberra in 1987.

6.

In 1989 the captaincy of the club was handed over to Mal Meninga, but Dean Lance played in his second grand final, this time winning the premiership.

7.

Dean Lance's coaching career began as reserve grade coach at Canberra in 1992, later being promoted to assistant coach.

8.

Dean Lance took over from Peter Mulholland at the Perth Reds in the 1997 Super League season.

9.

That was to be the final season for the Adelaide club as well, so again Dean Lance was left without a team to coach.

10.

Dean Lance moved to England and became coach of the Leeds Rhinos club in the Super League in November 1999, succeeding fellow Australian Graham Murray.

11.

Dean Lance served there for three seasons, achieving mixed results and having a less than perfect relationship with the club.

12.

Just four matches into the 2001 season, Dean Lance parted from the Leeds Rhinos "by mutual consent".