Our all time Sharks XV

Loosehead prop Paul Smith joined the Sharks Colts team at the age of 18 and played more than 150 games for Sale and then Sale Sharks between 1988 and 2000, many alongside twin brother and fellow prop Andrew.  

He joined the club staff after injury forced him to retire, and took up a key role in the club’s finance team, before a chance convcersation with then Director of Rugby Philippe Saint-Andre led to him becoming Team Manager. 

He moved on to become the club’s Operations Manager, then Operations Director and was appointed CEO in 2024. 

Paul has dedicated his life to the club and we are delighted to make him our first Sharks Hall of Fame inductee. 

Former hooker Steve Diamond was synonymous with Sale Sharks for well over 40 years, serving the club as both a player with more than 350 first team appearances, and as director of rugby.  

A true one-club man, Diamond played for the club for eleven years before returning in 2001, alongside Jim Mallinder, to coach the team. Stints with England Saxons, Saracens and the Russian national team followed before the ever-popular ‘Dimes’ returned to Sale in 2011, taking over from the departing Mike Brewer.

In December 2020, fans’ favourite Steve announced that he would leave Sale Sharks for personal reasons. He went on to coach Worcester Warriors and Newcastle Falcons, but he remains a huge part of our history and we’re thrilled to make him the second Hall of Fame inductee. 

Winger Steve Hanley started his rugby life playing for Cumbrian side Aspatria but his career took off after he played in the old Fourth Division and represented England in every age group all in the space of six months. 

He signed a professional deal with Sale in the 1998/99 season and it wasn’t long before he got his opportunity – away to Leicester – when winger Tom Beim hurt his shoulder in training. He impressed in the newly-named Sharks first team and was called into Clive Woodward’s England squad for the final Five Nations tournament in 1999. 

Steve played just once during the tournament, in England’s final game against Wales at Wembley. He scored a debut try but England were beaten with a last-minute Scott Gibbs score. 

It was to be Steve’s only international appearance but on the domestic front, he went from strength to strength. After spending ten years as a Shark, he retired at the age of 29 as the league’s record try scorer. In total he scored 104 tries for the club, with 75 coming in the Premiership. 

Our fourth Hall of Famer completes the legends front-row. Prop Ross Harrison joined Sale Sharks in 2011 and by the end of his first season his performances had earned him the Sharks’ Young Player of the Year award.  

He was called up to the England Saxons squad in January 2015 and made his 100th appearance for the Sharks against Harlequins on November 6, 2015.  

Ross’s club form was rewarded with a call-up to the England squad to play the Barbarians in a non-cap game in summer 2014. He toured South Africa with England Saxons the following year before being invited by Eddie Jones to a training camp for the senior England squad in May 2017.  

 At Sharks, he has an impressive track record, having surpassed 200 club appearances in January 2019 when he was just 26 years old. He’s hoping to hit the magic 300 during the 24/25 season. 

Hailing from Manchester, Dean Schofield is widely recognised as a true hardman of the professional era and one of the finest forwards of his generation.  

Dean started his rugby journey at Aldwinians but made his breakthrough when he signed for Sharks from Wakefield in 2001. 

Comfortable operating in both the second-row and the back-row, he went on to play 162 times for Sale and was part of the squad that won the European Challenge Cup in 2005 and the Premiership in 2006. 

Dean played twice for England on their 2007 summer Tour of South Africa and in 2010 was described by rugby journalist Stephen Jones as one of the ‘locks of the decade’ behind only England stalwart Simon Shaw in his estimation. 

Dean was appointed Sharks captain in 2010 but left the club at the end of that season. He played for Toulon, Worcester, London Welsh and Yorkshire Carnegie before hanging up his boots. 

Our first centre in the hall of fame is one of the most talented players ever to pull on a s Sharks shirt. Jos Baxendell fell in love with rugby as a pupil at King’s in Macclesfield and after completing his schooling, went on to Sheffield Polytechnic, and it was during his time there that a friend introduced him to Sale Sharks. 

He joined the club in 1993, made his debut against Otley in January 1994 and went on to play more than 200 games over the next 11 years. 

His prowess in the 13 shirt led to him being picked for England and he toured the southern hemisphere in 1998 in what would become known as the ‘tour of hell’. He picked up two caps, against New Zealand and South Africa, but that would be his only involvement with the national side. 

He was made Sharks captain before he retired following the Challenge Cup victory over Pau in 2005. Jos returned to the club in 2010 as backs coach. 

Joining Jos Baxendell in what would be a sensational Hall of Fame centre partnership is a boyhood Sharks fan who left the Salford Stadium in the summer of 2024 after playing 244 games for the club and scoring almost 200 points. 

Sam James joined Sale in 2012, seven years after being a ballboy at Edgeley Park. He made his debut a year later and went on to become a cornerstone of the team, on and off the field, for 12 years. 

Usually deployed at centre, but equally happy at fly-half or full-back, Sam’s silky skills and kicking game made him a fans’ favourite. 

And although he never achieved full international honours, his value to Sale Sharks was summed up by Alex Sanderson when his departure was announced. Al said Sam “is and will probably always be, the heartbeat of this club.” 

Joining Steve Hanley in our legends back-three is a Cumbrian native who is the very the definition of a one-club man.  

A keen footballer as a child, Mark Cueto worked his way through the Sharks academy before making his professional debut for the club against Bristol in 2001. He went on to make 294 appearances, scoring 118 tries in all competitions and when he retired in 2015, his 87 Premiership tries put him, at the time, at the top of the league’s all time top scorers list. 

On the international scene, Mark made his England debut in 2004 and went on to score 20 tries in 55 caps. He also played for the British and Irish Lions in the 2005 tour of New Zealand. 

Mark’s huge impact on Sale Sharks wasn’t limited to on the field. Off the field he spent time as the club’s Commercial Director and currently hosts hospitality guests on matchdays as part of the commercial team.