Paul Deacon

1990s

Hailing from Standish near Wigan, a former Hindley amateur, Deacon made his senior professional début four days before his 18th birthday as a substitute for Oldham in a 48–6 RL Challenge Cup fourth round home defeat of Rochdale Hornets on 9 February 1997. He made only four appearances for Oldham before moving to Bradford. He has been one of Bradford's most influential players in the 21st century so far. He signed for Bradford from Oldham and came through the youth system at the same time as Jamie Peacock and Stuart Fielden. Deacon scored a try and goal on his début for Bradford at scrum-half in a 36–10 Super League home defeat of Huddersfield on 28 June 1998. Deacon won caps for England while at Bradford in 1999 against France (2 matches). Deacon played for Bradford Bulls from the interchange bench in the 1999 Super League Grand Final which was lost to St. Helens.

2000s

Deacon played for England in their 2000 World Cup campaign against Russia, Fiji, Ireland and New Zealand, and in 2001 against Wales. He went on to be one of Bradford's key players, a superb organiser with a tremendous kicking game. For Great Britain he won caps while at Bradford in 2001 against France and Australia. Deacon played for the Bradford Bulls from the interchange bench in their 2001 Super League Grand Final victory against the Wigan Warriors. As Super League VI champions, the Bulls played against 2001 NRL Premiers, the Newcastle Knights in the 2002 World Club Challenge. Deacon played at srum half back, kicking eight goals and one field goal in Bradford's victory. Deacon played for Bradford Bulls at scrum half back, kicking three goals in their 2002 Super League Grand Final loss against St. Helens. He was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as grand final man-of-the-match despite being on the losing side. In the seasons of 2002 and 2003 Deacon's goal kicking percentage was near 80%. He represented Great Britain in 2002 against New Zealand (3 matches), in 2003 against Australia (2 matches, plus 1 as sub). Deacon played for the Bradford Bulls at scrum half back, kicking six goals and one drop goal in their 2003 Super League Grand Final victory against the Wigan Warriors. He also played for Bradford at scrum half back in their 2004 Super League Grand Final loss against the Leeds Rhinos.

Deacon played for the Bradford Bulls at dcrum half back, kicking three goal from five attempts in their 2005 Super League Grand Final victory against Leeds Rhinos He played in the 2005 Tri Nations against Australia and New Zealand (2 matches). On 23 June 2006, Paul Deacon broke the record points scored for a Bradford player (1,834), which was previously held by Keith Mumby. In 2007 Paul became the Bradford captain taking over from Iestyn Harris. In August 2007 he was named in Bradford's Team of the Century. In September 2007 Deacon reached 2,000 goals for Bradford. Deacon was recalled for the Great Britain train-on squad for the 2007 test series with New Zealand, but pulled out due to injury. In 2008 Deacon celebrated his testimonial year with Bradford after 10 years of service for the Super League club. As well as a testimonial match against his hometown club Wigan in January, Paul Deacon's name also appeared on all away jerseys to commemorate his loyalty to Bradford. On 16 April 2008 Paul signed a new 2-year contract until 2010. He was forced to rule himself out of contention for the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup through injury. In November 2009, Deacon signed for Wigan after 11 years at Bradford.

2010s

Deacon appeared in his first Grand Final in 5 years by being part of the winning team in 2010 who'd beaten St Helens 22–10 at Old Trafford. Deacon played for Wigan in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final at stand-off half, helping defeat Leeds 28–18.

In 2013, Deacon was appointed assistant to Steve McNamara at the England national rugby league team, just before the beginning of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.