Tim Sheens facts for kids

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Tim Sheens

Personal information
Full name	Timothy George Sheens
Born	(1950-10-30) 30 October 1950 (age 74) Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	99 kg (15 st 8 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1970–82 Penrith Panthers 166 11 0 0 33
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1984–87 Penrith Panthers 98 43 4 51 44 1988–96 Canberra Raiders 219 148 3 68 68 1997–01 Nth Qld Cowboys 103 27 4 72 26 2003–12 Wests Tigers 249 122 0 127 49 2017–19 Hull Kingston Rovers 78 44 2 32 56 2020 Widnes Vikings 7 5 0 2 71 2023 Wests Tigers 24 4 0 20 17 Total 778 393 13 372 51 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1991 NSW City 1 0 0 1 0 1991 New South Wales 3 1 0 2 33 2006–08 NSW City 3 2 1 0 67 2009–15 Australia 31 26 1 4 84 2021 Combined Nations 1 1 0 0 100
As of 1 September 2023
Education	St Gregory's College, Campbelltown
Relatives	Bob Sheens (brother) Joe Regent (great uncle)

Timothy "Tim" Sheens (born 30 October 1950) is a famous Australian rugby league coach and former player. He was the head coach for the Australian national team from 2009 to 2015. He also coached several big clubs in the National Rugby League (NRL). These include the Penrith Panthers, Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys, and Wests Tigers.

As a player, Sheens played as a prop forward for the Penrith club in the 1970s and 1980s. After he stopped playing, he became a coach. He led the Canberra Raiders to win three championships in 1989, 1990, and 1994. With the Wests Tigers, he won another championship in 2005. Tim Sheens also coached the New South Wales Blues in 1991. In 2015, he moved to England to work with the Super League club, the Salford Red Devils. Later, he coached the Hull Kingston Rovers and the Widnes Vikings. In 2021, he returned to the Wests Tigers in a new role, and then became their head coach again for 2023.

Playing Career Highlights

Tim Sheens grew up in a well-known rugby league family in the Penrith area. He went to St Dominic's College in Penrith. He spent his last two years of school at St Gregory's College, Campbelltown. There, he was the school captain and captain of the top rugby league team in 1968.

Sheens played for the Penrith Panthers for a long time. He played 166 first-grade games from 1970 to 1982. He scored 11 tries during his playing career. He started as a backrower but later became a prop forward. In 1974, he was named the Penrith Panthers' Player of the Year.

By 1982, Sheens had played a club record 258 games across all levels. He was the most capped Penrith Panthers player until Royce Simmons played more games in 1989. After leaving Penrith, he played one season for the Campbelltown City Kangaroos in 1983. He captained that team to win the Group 6 Rugby League championship. In 2006, he was named one of the Penrith Panthers "Team of Legends" for his great playing contributions. Tim Sheens' brother, Bob, also played first-grade rugby league for Eastern Suburbs.

Coaching Journey

Tim Sheens is known for helping teams improve and win championships. His first game as a first-grade coach was a loss, but he quickly showed his talent.

Penrith Panthers Coaching

Sheens coached the Penrith Panthers to their first-ever finals series in 1985. He left the club at the end of the 1987 season.

Canberra Raiders Coaching

Sheens led the Canberra Raiders to win their first championship in 1989. After this win, he took the team to England for the 1989 World Club Challenge, but they lost. He guided Canberra to win two more championships in 1990 and 1994.

North Queensland Cowboys Coaching

His time with the North Queensland Cowboys (1997–2001) was not as successful. The club finished last twice during his time there. He resigned from North Queensland in May 2001.

Wests Tigers Coaching

In 2002, Sheens became the coach for the Wests Tigers for the 2003 season. Many people believe Sheens was key to the Wests Tigers winning the 2005 Grand Final against the Cowboys.

Sheens has coached four championship-winning teams. This makes him one of the most successful coaches in Australian rugby league history. He won the Dally M Coach of the Year award in 1984, 1990, and 2005. After winning the NRL championship, the Wests Tigers played against the Super League champions Bradford Bulls in the 2006 World Club Challenge. The Tigers lost this game 30–10.

On 3 May 2010, Sheens became the first coach in Australian rugby league history to reach 600 games. He decided to stay with the Wests Tigers until 2014, even though another club offered him a job. However, in September 2012, the Wests Tigers announced that Sheens would not coach the team in 2013.

Coaching in England

On 23 June 2015, Sheens became the director of rugby league at the English club Salford Red Devils.

Tim Sheens coaching the Australian national team in 2009.

In September 2016, it was announced that he would join Hull Kingston Rovers for the 2017 season. In his first year, Sheens helped Hull Kingston Rovers get promoted back to the Super League in 2017. After two years, Sheens left Hull KR in June 2019 due to the team's performance.

On 13 October 2020, it was announced that Sheens had resigned as head coach of the Widnes Vikings. This was due to disagreements with the club's management.

Return to Wests Tigers

In 2021, it was announced that Sheens would return to the Wests Tigers. He would work in roles focused on finding and developing new talent. Later, he was named the club's head coach for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. There was a plan, sometimes called the "Marshall Plan," for Benji Marshall to take over as head coach in 2025.

Sheens' second time as Wests Tigers head coach started tough, with the team losing their first five matches. In round 9 of the 2023 NRL season, Sheens led the team to their first win in a long time, beating the Penrith Panthers 12-8. However, in round 18, the Wests Tigers lost by a very large margin to North Queensland, 74-0.

On 16 August 2023, the Wests Tigers announced that Sheens had asked to step down as head coach at the end of the season. Benji Marshall then took over as head coach earlier than planned, starting in 2024. Sheens was expected to stay with the Tigers in a mentoring role.

Coaching National Teams

Tim Sheens has also coached at the representative level, meaning he coached teams made up of the best players from different areas or countries.

He coached the 1991 ARL City Origin team to a win over Country. In the same year, he coached the New South Wales State of Origin team. In 1997, Sheens coached the NSW Super League team to a win in a Tri-series competition.

Sheens returned to coaching representative teams in 2006. He coached the City Origin team again in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

In February 2009, Sheens was chosen to coach the Australian national rugby league team, known as the Kangaroos. He led the Kangaroos to their first win under his coaching in May 2009, defeating the Kiwis.

He successfully coached the Kangaroos in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. The Australian team was very strong, allowing only four tries in the whole tournament. They got revenge against New Zealand in the final, after losing to them in the 2008 final.

Sheens resigned as the Kangaroos head coach on 3 October 2015. He did this to take on a full-time role as director of the Super League club Salford Red Devils.

Combined Nations Coaching

On 25 June 2021, he coached the Combined Nations All Stars. They won their game 26-24 against England. This game was part of England’s preparation for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

Representative Coaching Record

Overall Representative Record

As of 4 May 2015