Kevin Sinfield reveals shock Super League club he nearly signed for before becoming Leeds Rhinos legend

Kevin Sinfield has shared that he might not have become a Leeds Rhinos legend after nearly signing with a rival Super League club at the very start of his career.

Sinfield was a special guest on the Stick to Rugby podcast, hosted by rugby union legend Lawrence Dallaglio and former Wigan Warriors prop Scott Quinnell.

It was here that he declared that his original rugby league plan was to play for Wigan, and it was only at the last minute that he signed for the Rhinos.

He said: “Basically I was playing in Lancashire, in the Lancashire competition, as Oldham teams did. Every other weekend you were in Wigan, Warrington or St Helens. Back then, the scouts were just trying to sign anyone from the age of 11 upwards who could catch, pass and tackle.

“But in Yorkshire, it was a very different mindset. They would just sign one or two kids from each age group and work with them, and spend a lot of time on them.

“I spent a full pre-season at Wigan and was very close to signing for Wigan in 1994. I would have been 13 at the time.

“I was very close with them and with Warrington.”

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Although training with Wigan, it was Leeds that eventually won the battle for his signature and it was the right club for him at the time.

He added: “But at the 11th hour, my parents got a call from Leeds, we visited the stadium and my mum and dad fell in love with the place.

“Doug Laughton promised my parents he’d do everything he could, and you should never believe everything a head coach tells you when you’re 13 because the likelihood is he won’t be there when you’re old enough to play.

“But the club seemed a family club and were willing to develop. From that point in signing pro at 13, I was there every single week.”

He also shared that he felt lucky to be at the club in a time when they’d started to promote young players and invest heavily in them, many of which were scouted by Bob Pickles, who passed earlier in the year.

The core group from those days went on to win seven Grand Finals as the Rhinos dominated Super League between 2004 and 2015, with just one win since in 2017.