Kevin Sinfield

Kevin Sinfield

Sinfield playing for Leeds in 2010
Personal information
Nickname	"Sir Kevin Sinfield"
Born	12 September 1980 (1980-09-12) Oldham, Greater Manchester, England
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	95 kg (14 st 13 lb)
Playing information
Position	Utility
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1997–	Leeds Rhinos	400	67	1284	27	2863
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2000–	England	18	4	46	0	108
2001–07	Great Britain	14	1	15	0	34
As of 29 December 2011

Kevin Sinfield (born 12 September 1980 in Oldham, Greater Manchester) is an English professional rugby league player. He is the captain of the Leeds Rhinos in Super League. His recognised position is Loose forward/Lock, although he can cover both Stand-off/Five-eighth, and Hooker. He has represented both England and Great Britain at international level.

Career

Sinfield began his career at Waterhead ARLFC. He signed for Leeds RLFC in August 1997 and made his first team debut aged 16 against the Sheffield Eagles. He went on to make three further appearances during the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Scoring his first try against Huddersfield in September 1998. 1999 was a breakthrough season for Sinfield, making 21 appearances and scoring 2 tries. He was unlucky not to be selected for the 1999 Challenge Cup Final at the old Wembley Stadium. Leeds defeated the then London Broncos 52–16.

In 2007, Sinfield became the first Leeds player to score in every round of a Super League season, a feat which he repeated in the 2011 season including kicking 6 out of 7 goals in the Rhino's fourth Grand final victory over St Helens in 5 years

Sinfield celebrated his testimonial season in 2008. He was the man-of-the-match, scoring seven points as Leeds defeated Melbourne 11–4 at Elland Road. During the season Sinfield set a club record by scoring in 63 consecutive matches. He also set a Super League record by scoring in 52 consecutive Super League games. Sinfield scored his 2,000th point for the club as Leeds defeated St Helens for the second successive year in the Grand Final. Leeds won 24–16, with Sinfield successfully kicking four goals. It was the first time Leeds had ever won back to back titles. It was also the first time that a Super League team had won both the World Club Challenge and the Grand Final in the same calendar year.

During the 2009 season, Sinfield became only the second player, after Lewis Jones, to score 1,000 goals for Leeds. Sinfield capped the 2009 season by winning the Harry Sunderland Trophy for his performance as he led Leeds to victory in a third successive Grand Final. Leeds defeated St Helens 18–10, with Sinfield scoring six of the points, including a drop goal. With victory, Sinfield became the first player in history to captain four championship winning teams. He dedicated the win to the recently deceased former Leeds player John Holmes. He has now extended that record to captaining five Championship winning teams after Leeds Rhinos' latest victory over St Helens in the 2011 Super League Grand Final. He is expected to become the all-time top points scorer for the Leeds Rhinos sometime in the 2012 season.

International career

Sinfield was a member of the England squad for the World Cup in 2000, notably scoring a hat-trick of tries in a 76–4 victory over Russia. He was also named in the England squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Sinfield was selected to play for England against France in the one-off test in 2010.

Sinfield played a pivotal role in the England team in the 2011 Gillette Four Nations, which has involved games against Australia, New Zealand and Wales. They reached the Gillette Four Nations Final courtesy of coming 2nd in the group table. The Gillette Four Nations Final will be played at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday, 19th November.

Super League Record

Sinfield holds the record for being the highest scoring kicker in Super League history

The table below shows a cumulative points and scoring records for Sinfield at the end of the 2011 Super League season.

As of 3rd Feb 2012

Club	Years Active	Appearances	Tries	Goals	DG	Points
Leeds Rhinos	1997-2012	245	53	1143	20	2519

Trivia

Kevin has an elder brother, Ian Sinfield who currently plays for Rochdale Hornets as well as being a Scottish International. He also has a sister who works as a geography teacher at the Bluecoat Church of England School in Oldham, Greater Manchester.

External links

• Leeds Rhinos profile
• 2001 Ashes profile
• International Statistics at englandrl.co.uk
• Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org