Cuthwyn Ellery Hanley MBE (born 27 March 1961) is an English former rugby league player and coach.

Over a nineteen-year professional career (1978–1997), he played for Bradford Northern, Wigan, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Leeds.

Nicknamed 'Mr Magic' and 'The Black Pearl', he played most often as a stand-off or loose forward after starting out as a centre or wing.

Hanley won the Man of Steel Award a record three times, the Lance Todd Trophy once, and the Golden Boot in 1988.

Although Bradford ultimately lost the match, Hanley scored a memorable try which was selected as the try of the season in the BBC's Top Try competition.

[8] In 1985 he signed for Wigan for a fee of £150,000, with Steve Donlan and Phil Ford moving to Bradford Northern in exchange for Hanley as part of the deal.

During his second season at Wigan he scored 63 tries playing at centre, stand-off and loose forward, an all-time record for a non-winger.

But when Wigan reached the semi-final of the 1988 Rugby League Challenge Cup against Salford, coach Graham Lowe recalled Hanley to the team.

[1] In 1989, Hanley helped the club reach the Challenge Cup Final, where they won a 27–0 victory over St Helens in front of a crowd of approximately 78,000 people at Wembley, the first time in Cup Final history at Wembley that a side had been held scoreless.

Hanley, the Great Britain captain, was signed by Sydney club Balmain Tigers to play the remaining rounds of the 1988 NSWRFL season for them once his representative commitments were fulfilled.

The first half of the Grand Final was a tight contest as Balmain led 6–4 scoring due to a mistake from Canterbury fullback Jason Alchin.

Lamb commented in his 1992 book that Balmain had key players such as Wayne Pearce, Ben Elias, Paul Sironen and Garry Jack that there was no chance to target one individual.

Speaking to Inside Sport Magazine in August 2005, Hanley was asked: What do you remember about that infamous tackle by Terry Lamb?

"[14]The New South Wales Rugby League, despite the media pressure, backed up Lamb's version of events and deemed he had no case to answer.

In September 1991 at the age of 30, he joined Leeds as a player and coach for £250,000, and on his arrival at the club, was immediately appointed captain.

In the previous game, the Challenge Cup semi-final, Leeds faced St Helens at Central Park.

During that season, Hanley helped the club reach the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley for the second consecutive year.

He made his Great Britain début as a substitute, whilst still a Bradford Northern player, in January 1984 against France in Avignon.

He was selected for the 1984 Great Britain Lions tour to Australia and was one of the stars of the 1984 Ashes series, scoring a remarkable twelve tries playing mostly on the wing.

The Lions defeated Papua New Guinea but lost The Ashes to Australia, losing the first two Tests in Sydney and Brisbane.

Hanley captained Great Britain against the 1990 Kangaroos, and although they pulled off a shock 19–12 win over Australia in the first test at Wembley with Hanley playing a prominent role, the Kangaroos would come back to win the second and third tests to extend their Ashes series streak over the Lions which dated back to 1973.

He played in Great Britain's defeat by Australia in the 1992 Rugby League World Cup final at Wembley.

His appointment meant he had become the first black person to coach or manage a major national team in Great Britain.

His side defeated the Bradford Bulls, the club he began his professional playing career at, by 8–6 in October of that year.

[22][23][24] Whilst playing for Wigan, Hanley had a try out in the World League of American football with the London Monarchs in March 1991.