Waterhead links at Wembley showdown

Reporter: MATTHEW CHAMBERS
Date published: 22 August 2014


RUGBY: 

WHEN Kevin Sinfield steps out at Wembley aiming to finally land a Challenge Cup winners’ medal, he will be up against two men with similar groundings in the sport who are out to stop him doing just that.

The England and Leeds Rhinos skipper, 34 next month, started out throwing a ball around Waterhead Park under the tutelage of the late Mick Hough.

And so, too, did Castleford Tigers duo Marc Sneyd and Lee Jewitt — Oldhamers the pair, determined to upset the odds and inflict yet more finals misery on town icon Sinfield and his Rhinos.

If nothing else, the presence of the trio again hammers home the depth of talent that exists within Oldham and, more specifically, the famous Peach Road club which also helped produce the likes of Paul Sculthorpe.

“If you look at the Oldham area over the last few decades, there have been so many Super League players come through and before that, great players who represented Oldham at the top level and their country internationally,” Sinfield, who has played in five of Leeds’ six final defeats in the Super League era, told the Chronicle.

“The town is a hotbed of rugby league and like any sport, it is the people behind it who make it.

“For me at Waterhead, it was Mick Hough and also people like Jon Perks, who put so much time and effort into so many.

“It makes it the more special when some players go on to big things.”

Sinfield heads into the sell-out West Yorkshire derby with only one appearance in the past five weeks.

He was rested for the surprise defeat at London Broncos on Sunday and prior to that, had a spell on the sidelines due to suspension from the first red card of his career — picked up due to an out-of-character moment of anger against the Tigers.

As for Sinfield's personal goal of ending his Challenge Cup hoodoo — as the most successful captain in Leeds’ history, he has played in five of the club’s six final defeats in the Super League era — he is staying typically grounded.

“As I have got older, I’ve become more philosophical about it,” he added. “I have a better grip.

“It is not something that I have turned into a crusade.

“I would love to get my hands on that trophy and a winners’ medal. But if it is not to be, then it is not to be.

“I will do everything I can to win it. I have lost in five finals and that is not pretty, but players can go entire careers without playing at Wembley.

“I feel very fortunate to have done what I have done in my career, including captaining my country, and if it ends without that then I won’t lose any sleep over it.”