Sinfield played his entire professional career with Leeds and is one of the most successful players in Super League history, having captained the team to seven Super League championships and two Challenge Cup successes. He also earned individual accolades as winner of the Lance Todd Trophy (2005), Harry Sunderland Trophy twice (2009, 2012) and the Golden Boot (2012), one of only five British-based players to win the latter.[3][4][5][6][7] He holds records as the highest points-scorer in Super League history,[8] the third-highest points-scorer in British rugby league history and Leeds's record points scorer.[9] Sinfield is also only one of two players to have led a team to win three consecutive Super League titles.
Sinfield made his first team début for Leeds aged 16 against the Sheffield Eagles, and made three further appearances during the 1997 and 1998 seasons, scoring his first try against the Huddersfield Giants in September 1998. 1999 was a breakthrough season for Sinfield, with 21 appearances and 2 tries. He was not selected for the 1999 Challenge Cup Final, when Leeds defeated the London Broncos.[12]
Sinfield celebrated his testimonial season in 2008. He was 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 2008 Super League 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. He was also selected for the England squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup tournament in Australia. In England's first match against Papua New Guinea he played at loose forward and kicked four goals from six attempts in England's victory. 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 points, including a drop goal. With victory, Sinfield became the first player in history to captain four championship-winning teams. He dedicated the win at Old Trafford to the recently deceased former Leeds player John Holmes.[15][16]
Sinfield played a pivotal role in the England team in the 2011 Gillette Four Nations, which involved games against Australia, New Zealand and Wales. They reached the Gillette Four Nations Final courtesy of coming second in the group table, with England losing out to Australia despite Sinfield kicking two goals.[23]
Sinfield became the all-time top points scorer for Leeds early in the 2012 season.[24]
In 2012, he extended his championship tally as Leeds again came from fifth in the regular season to triumph at Old Trafford – this time 26–18 against Warrington. Sinfield turned in a Man-of-the-Match performance in the final, winning the Harry Sunderland Trophy with a try, a penalty and four conversions.[29][26] Remarkably, he finished the five-match playoff campaign with a 100% goalkicking record.
It was announced in January 2013 that Sinfield had won the Golden Boot – only the fourth Englishman to do so. He beat off competition from Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins as well as Australians Cameron Smith, Ben Barba, Cooper Cronk and Nate Myles to claim the prize that is awarded annually by Rugby League World magazine to the game's top performer.[30]
Sinfield holds the record for being the highest-scoring kicker in Super League history.
On 31 March 2015, Sinfield announced that the 2015 season would be his last in rugby league and that he would finish his career with rugby union side Yorkshire Carnegie.[32]
Sinfield joined Leeds Rhinos' sister club Yorkshire Carnegie on an 18-month contract. Sinfield made his début at Headingley on 15 November 2015. He came on as a sub in the last 15 minutes in the British and Irish Cup, scoring a penalty but missing a conversion later on. In April 2016, Sinfield announced that he would retire from playing at the end of the season.[38] During the 2015–2016 season he played 18 games; kicking 37 conversions and 16 penalties, for a total of 122 points.[39]
Coaching and management career
In August 2016, Sinfield joined the Rugby Football League (RFL) as Rugby Director, responsible for reviewing and developing a performance strategy for the England national team until the 2021 World Cup.[40] In July 2018 he returned to Leeds Rhinos as their first ever director of rugby.[41]
In November 2020, Sinfield announced that he would be running seven marathons in seven days to raise £77,777 for ex-Leeds teammate Rob Burrow, who had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) a year earlier, as well as the MND Association.[44] He began his first marathon on 1 December with the fundraising target already exceeded,[45] Sinfield described it as "completely overwhelming" that the target had been reached so quickly.[46]
By the time that he finished his seventh marathon on 7 December, more than £1.2 million had been raised.[47][48] At the conclusion, he said it had "probably been the most special week in my life".[49] and said it was his greatest achievement above all he achieved in rugby league.[47] By the following day, the total raised had surpassed £2 million.[50] Of the funds raised, £500,000 was earmarked for research projects, a figure doubled by a contribution from medical research charity LifeArc to create a £1 million fund for MND research projects.[51]
In October 2021, Sinfield announced his second fundraiser, running between Leicester Tigers' home ground Welford Road Stadium, and Leeds Rhinos' Headingley, a distance of approximately 101 miles (163 km), in under 24 hours.[52] With an initial goal of £100k, Sinfield was again raising funds for the MND Association, and described it as "the toughest challenge I have ever attempted",[53] and the run was to be split into 24 sections of 7km.[54] Upon completing what was dubbed the "Extra Mile Challenge" on 23 November, Sinfield had raised over £1 million.[55] He said that he would not stop fundraising until a cure had been found for the disease,[56] and described himself as "massively blown away" by the amount raised,[57] but said ideas of a knighthood were "really nice but we're a team".[58] By early December, the campaign had raised over £2 million.[59]
For the fifth challenge, Kevin Sinfield is nearing his £777,777 fundraising target in his latest endurance challenge, "Running Home for Christmas." This week-long event involves running at least seven 7km blocks daily for seven consecutive days. The challenge, which started in Liverpool and visited several UK cities, concludes with a final stage from Old Trafford to Saddleworth. As of the sixth stage, the total raised stood at over £728,000, adding to the nearly £10 million Sinfield has already raised for MND-related causes through his previous four challenges.[63]
On 20 December 2022, Sinfield, alongside former Leeds Rhinos teammate Rob Burrow, were awarded the Freedom of the City of Leeds for their services to the MND community.[69]
He published his autobiography, The Extra Mile: My Autobiography, in May 2023.[72]
Records and statistics
Sinfield set a number of club and league records during his rugby league career. At Leeds, he is the all-time leading points scorer (3,967), and he made the third highest number of appearances (521) for the club. With a combined total of 4,231 points at club and representative level, he is the third-highest points scorer in British rugby league history (behind Neil Fox and Jim Sullivan).[38] He is the Super League's second overall appearance holder (454) and the competition's record point scorer.[73]
