Martin Aspinwall
Personal information
Nickname	Aspy, Marty, Awol
Born	21 October 1981 (1981-10-21) (age 28)
	Wigan, England, England
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	94 kg (14 st 11 lb)
Playing information
Position	Wing, CentreLoose Forward
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2001–2005	Wigan Warriors	113	33	0	0	108
2006–	Huddersfield Giants	59	23	0	0	92
	Total	172	56	0	0	200
As of 4 May 2008
Source: Rugby League Project

Martin Aspinwall (born October 21, 1981 in Wigan, England) is an English rugby league player. He plays on the wing for the Huddersfield Giants. He is 185 cm (6′ 1.5; inches) in height and weighs 94 kg (205 pounds).

Aspinwall started his career with the Wigan Warriors as a top junior and was the first player to be signed onto their now pioneering scholarship scheme that was set up by Brian Foley and Dean Bell. On 8 July 2001, he made his debut against Huddersfield Giants at 19 years old and made six further substitute appearances in the same season. The 2002 Super League season proved to be a break-through year for him, as several injuries in the backs left the way open for him to establish himself in the first team. He played in at centre and wing in during Wigan’s league run-in and during the playoff series. Before the St Helens Final Elimination clash, Martin commented, “My goal at the beginning of the season was to get eight to ten games, maybe come off the bench, but because of the injury crisis that we’ve had, especially in the backs, I’ve found myself in the Semis now and one game away from a Grand Final.”

Coach Stuart Raper played Aspinwall alongside several other up and coming youngsters during the 2002 season. “It’s quite exciting for me to be able to play these guys,” said Raper. “The Aspinwalls and Briscoes are chomping at the bit to get on that paddock. Martin continued his good form for the club and, in July 2003, signed a new two-year contract with the club, turning down strong interest from Warrington.

Martin was selected for the England A squad to face New Zealand at Brentford in November 2002 but had to withdraw due to a viral illness. He was later named in the 2003 England A squad to face Australia and in the European Nations Cup. Martin was picked to represent Lancashire in the 2003 Origin match.

Martin became a first team regular in the next two years,playing in the 2003 Grand Final defeat to Bradford Bulls & consistently pushing for International honours . At the end of his contract, which ran out in October 2005, Wigan allowed Martin to become a free-agent. He had made 107 competitive appearances for Wigan, scoring 24 tries. He quickly signed for Super League rivals Huddersfield Giants, where he played in the 2006 Challenge Cup Final defeat to St Helens at Twickenham. He was also Giants top try scorer in his first season with 15.

In October 2006, Martin was named in the 25-man Great Britain Tri-Nations squad to tour Australia and New Zealand. His 2007 season was cut short in July when he suffered an horrific cruciate knee injury against Warrington, ruling him potentially 12 months on the sidelines.

However he made a very speedy recovery and has been named in the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Martin Aspinwall Wigan Playing Career Page on the CherryandWhite.co.uk Wigan RL Fansite.
• Picture
• Huddersfield Giants
• Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org

v • d • e Huddersfield Giants – current squad 1 Hodgson · 2 Aspinwall · 3 Brown · 4 Whatuira · 5 Hodgson · 6 Fulton · 7 Robinson · 8 Crabtree · 9 Faiumu · 10 D Griffin · 11 Lolesi · 12 Raleigh · 13 Wild · 14 Finnigan · 15 Jackson · 16 Mason · 17 Korkidas · 18 Kirmond · 19 Lawrence · 20 Moore · 21 Cudjoe · 22 McGilvary · 23 Walsh · 24 Lunt · 25 Lawson · 26 Hemingway · 27 Lopag · 28 J Griffin · 29 Carlile · 30 Patrick · Coach: Brown