Kevin Sinfield
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Kevin Sinfield (born 09/12/1980 in Oldham, Greater Manchester) is a rugby league player. He is a loose forward.
Kevin graduated to the full international ranks for England in the World Cup in 2000. He appeared off the bench in the opening game against Australia before making his full debut against Russia five days later. He scored a hat-trick that day and then returned to the bench for the next match against Fiji. 2001 was even more of success as Sinfield played for the victorious Lancashire side at Headingley in the Origin match before taking up his spot in the starting line up for England against Wales. Sinfield had clearly grown in stature and David Waite had no hesitation in throwing him in at hooker, a position he had never played before, for his debut in the first test of the Ashes in the Autumn, which Great Britain won. Sinfield played in the remaining two tests.
In 2002 Kevin retained his place in both the Lancashire Origin and the Great Britain side. He gained his fourth cap in July of that year, again against Australia in Sydney before featuring in two Tests against New Zealand in the Autumn international series. Kevin retained his place in the Great Britain side for the Ashes in 2003 however despite a successful domestic season he was omitted from the 2004 Tri Nations squad. Last year though there was no question over his inclusion and he showed just what he could do, kicking 4 goals from 4 attempts in the opening game against New Zealand.
In 2005, Kevin became the first Leeds captain ever to lift the World Club Challenge trophy and led his side back to the Powergen Challenge Cup and Grand Final. He missed just five games last season after dislocating his thumb mid-season. He scored 328 points in all competitions and narrowly missed out on the top spot as the league’s top points scorer. Last season also marked a momentous milestone for Kevin as he became only the 11th player in the history of the club to surpass 1,000 points in a career and currently has scored 1,183 points for Leeds in 212 appearances. That places him seventh in the all time list for Leeds.
Kevin has always been recognised as an extremely special player since he joined the Rhinos in 1996 and made his debut whilst still a 16-year-old against Sheffield at Headingley in 1997. A brilliantly gifted footballer he has already achieved so much in his short career that many believe he will go on to be one of the true greats of the game. Kevin was part of the squad that made it to the 1999 and 2000 Challenge Cup Final, only to miss out on a place in the Final line up. However, he fought back from that disappointment to captain the Rhinos in the 2003 Final at Cardiff. Such was his progression at the club that he was awarded the Leeds Rhinos captaincy for 2003 after becoming a first choice regular at the club. Adapt at playing either loose forward or stand off, Kevin is an astute goal kicker and amassed over five hundred points in just five seasons in the first team. In 2004 Kevin finished the season as the Super League’s top goal scorer with 152 goals and 3 drop goals and with a further 4 tries he became the top points scorer with a tally of 323.
