Kevin Sinfield: A man for all seasons

It is a rarity in team sport to see a player stay at a club for their entire career. When you consider loyalty with the impact that player has had, the feat is even more noteworthy. In Rugby League, with Leeds Rhinos at least, that player is Kevin Sinfield.

Having signed a new four-year contract, effectively the remainder of his career, Sinfield has displayed not only a loyalty to the club which gave him the chance as a youth, but also a respect of the very youth system which the club pride themselves on.

A product of this Leeds system, Sinfield praises the academy, out of which a dominant generation has emerged, something he sees replicated with the new crop of talent this season.

"It's what the club has been built on over the last 10 to 15 years," says the Oldham-born captain.

"It's what the culture has been. We've set some great foundations with some of the junior players coming through. It's great to see the likes of Ben Jones-Bishop and Callum Watkins poking their noses through, challenging for spots and being outstanding as well."

A lot of talk has surrounded Ben Jones-Bishop, a young, powerful player, heralded as part of the new era for Leeds. Fifteen years ago that player was Sinfield, a young, aggressive man with a smile on his face, wanting to make his mark.

Harking his mind back to his youth, Sinfield reflects on his own foray into professional rugby. "I remember making my debut at 16 and then not really establishing myself until 1999. I was chomping at the bit, dying for a break and at the time the culture of the game was evolving. It's different to what it is now.

"At that time I just remember really wanting to play and wanting to make an impact. The fact that the club has put money into young lads is definitely the way to go."

Fast forward over a decade later and the same passion which drove Sinfield to lift no less than four Super League titles, keeps him striving to achieve more and prove the doubters wrong.

Last season was considered abysmal by Leeds Rhinos' standards. Having missed out on silverware so unceremoniously many critics, rightly or wrongly, dismissed Leeds ahead of the current campaign. For the adopted-Yorkshireman, this could well be a blessing in disguise though.

"That's fine, people are entitled to their own opinion. I think the lads like being written off, we like to prove a point and prove people wrong.

"[Last year] we lost some of that spark and enjoyment and ultimately that's why you play the game. Now it's a job and you do get paid for it, but when you start out as a junior it doesn't enter your head that you can get paid for doing something you love. I've never looked on it as a job, but at times last year, it became that way."

Missing out on silverware was a tough pill to swallow for the 30-year-old. As he looks to wind down his career at a club where he has achieved so much, he knows that it could have been so different had he given into the temptation of switching codes.

"Considering the level you're playing at, you're always looking to challenge yourself with other opportunities. You always get things thrown at you that are a little bit different and that you have to look at.

"I said after one of the grand final victories that every one of our squad could have gone and earned more money at another club, either in Super League or in rugby union.

"People may look at us and think we're fools for not taking more money, but I think there is more to life than just cash. I'm fully committed to what we've done in the last 15 years and want it to carry on for a long, long time."

For now that commitment is to re-establish Leeds as the dominant force in league format, and to enjoy it at the same time. Sinfield is a firm proponent of the idea that you enjoy your rugby. He takes that enjoyment from the sport and from surrounding himself with his team-mates. To him they are not colleagues, but friends, and it is this, which he wants to instil into the future of Leeds Rhinos.

"There's no bigger buzz I can get from playing well and that's been the same since I was seven years old.

"We talk about this culture we've created with some of the young lads coming through. They have become like brothers because they have been here and lived it. I think the team environment is really built on that.

"At times in games when you're facing adversity, to have a mate alongside you means a lot more than having a colleague."

Despite this ferocious commitment, Sinfield remains a very humble man. However, you really believe the Leeds captain when he says his team will return to the top of the tree and in his eyes, once there, long may it continue.

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