Under Sinfield’s leadership, Leeds have become a club synonymous with success and silverware. The years before Sinfield’s arrival at Leeds had been lean, but the emergence of players such as Sinfield himself, Rob Burrow, Danny McGuire and Jamie Jones-Buchanan coincided with a golden period for the Headingley club.
Since the 34-year-old was handed the captaincy at the relatively young age of 22 in 2003, Sinfield has led Leeds to six Grand Final wins, three World Club Challenges and two League Leaders’ Shields – as well as last season’s Challenge Cup final success against Castleford. His leadership earned the respect of players such as Great Britain captain Jamie Peacock and former Australia and New South Wales skipper Danny Buderus – both of whom played under him.
His remarkable scoring record leaves him just three short of 4,000 career points, a total which puts the Oldham-born stand-off fourth in the all-time rugby league points scorers list, and tops the club’s own individual points list.
Whether it was climbing off the turf following a heavy tackle to inspire the 2012 Grand Final win against Warrington, calmly racking up the points in that season’s play-off semi-final against Wigan, or booking a 2011 Challenge Cup final place with a nerveless golden-point penalty goal against Castleford, Sinfield’s ice-cool mentality has proved vital in big games for the Rhinos.
Perhaps his finest individual sporting moment was winning the 2012 Golden Boot for the world’s best player, pipping international stars such as Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and compatriot Sam Tomkins to the prize – only the fourth Englishman to achieve that honour.
“When Kevin signed his last five-year contract in 2012 it was with the understanding that he could decide to leave at the end of any season, unrestricted, provided we were notified at the start of the season so we could begin to plan for the future,” said chief executive Gary Hetherington.
“If any player in the history of our club deserves the right to choose when he moves on to the next stage of his career, it is Kevin Sinfield.”