Elliot Kear

Elliot Kear (born 29 November 1988), is a Welsh professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback, centre or on the wing for the Salford Red Devils in the Betfred Super League and Wales at international level.[2][3]

Elliot Kear
Personal information
Born (1988-11-29) 29 November 1988
Cardiff, Wales
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Weight12 st 6 lb (79 kg)
Playing information
Rugby league
PositionFullback, Wing, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009–11 Crusaders RL 22 5 0 0 20
2010(DR) → S Wales Scorpions 13 5 0 0 20
2011(loan) → Hunslet Hawks 10 5 16 0 52
2012–14 Bradford Bulls 59 21 0 0 84
2015–19 London Broncos 127 35 1 0 142
2016(loan) → London Skolars 1 2 0 0 8
2020– Salford Red Devils 0 0 0 0 0
Total 232 73 17 0 326
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009– Wales 26 12 0 0 48
2019– Wales 9s 3 2 0 0 9
Rugby union
PositionWing, Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 London Welsh 14 1 0 0 0
As of 19 October 2019
Source: [2][3]

He was made Wales captain on the 27th October 2018.

He previously for Crusaders RL in the Super League, and on loan from Crusaders at the South Wales Scorpions in League 1 and the Hunslet Hawks in the Co-operative Championship. Kear has also played rugby league for the Bradford Bulls in the Super League, and the London Broncos in the Championship and the Super League.

He is the captain of Wales and has played 27 times for Wales in the European competitions, 2011 Four Nations, 2013 Rugby League World Cup and the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. He is the 4th all-time top try scorer.

He played rugby union for London Welsh in the Aviva Premiership.

Background

Kear was born in Cardiff, Wales.

Early life

Kear attended Whitchurch High School in his hometown Cardiff, and was in the same year as Sam Warburton and Gareth Bale.[4] He excelled in a number of sports while in school. He also represented Cardiff schools at rugby union, and played for the Cardiff Demons amateur rugby league club.[5]

Kear playing for the Celtic Crusaders against the Hemel Stags in 2008

Rugby league

Kear made his Super League début on 22 August 2009 at Rodney Parade in Newport against the Leeds Rhinos.[6] He was named man of the match after making several fine try-saving tackles against the eventual Super League champions. He also played in Celtic Crusaders final two games of the season against Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers. On 7 October 2009, Kear signed his first professional contract at Celtic Crusaders for the 2010 season, hoping to cement his place as the first choice full back at the club, under new head coach Brian Noble.

In May 2010 Kear was recalled to the Crusaders first team playing in the Challenge cup 4th Round loss at Leeds Rhinos. Playing on the Left wing Kear made the first Crusaders try and scored a second half try in a performance that earn't him praise from the commentators and his coach Iestyn Harris.

The following game Kear played an important part in the crucial win over the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats which also saw him selected in the Frontline index Super League team of Round 14.

Kear playing for the Bradford Bulls

Bradford Bulls

Kear signed for the Bradford Bulls for 3 Years. The Bulls beat of stiff competition from numerous Super League clubs to secure the highly rated winger's signature.

2012

Kear missed the pre-season games against Castleford Tigers and Dewsbury Rams due to a hernia injury. He featured against Hull F.C. in the final friendly.

Elliot featured in five consecutive games from Round 1 (Catalans Dragons) to Round 5 (Warrington Wolves). He missed Rounds 6-12 and Round 4 and 5 of the Challenge Cup due to injury. Elliot featured in three consecutive games from Round 13 (London Broncos) to Round 15 (Leeds Rhinos). He was injured for Rounds 16-22. However he was selected in the final game of the season Round 27 (Catalans Dragons). Kear scored against Catalans Dragons (1 try) and Leeds Rhinos (1 try).

2013

Kear featured in the pre-season friendlies against Dewsbury Rams and Leeds Rhinos.

He featured in 27 consecutive games from Round 1 (Wakefield Trinity Wildcats) to Round 27 (Huddersfield Giants). Kear was rested for Round 4 of the Challenge Cup but featured in Round 5 (London Broncos). He scored against St Helens R.F.C. (2 tries), Hull Kingston Rovers (1 try), Catalans Dragons (1 try), Leeds Rhinos (2 tries), London Broncos (1 try), Widnes Vikings (1 try), Hull F.C. (1 try), Castleford Tigers (1 try) and Huddersfield Giants (1 try). He signed a 1 Year Extension to his current contract.

2014

Kear featured in the pre-season games against Hull FC, Dewsbury Rams and Castleford Tigers. He scored against Castleford Tigers (1 try).

He featured in Round 1 (Castleford Tigers) and Round 3 (London Broncos) to Round 18 (Warrington Wolves). Elliot featured in Round 22 (Wigan Warriors) to Round 23 (Leeds Rhinos). Kear also played in Round 4 (Oldham) to the Quarter Final (Warrington Wolves) in the Challenge Cup. He scored against Widnes Vikings (1 try), Oldham (2 tries), Salford Red Devils (2 tries), Warrington Wolves (2 tries) and Hull Kingston Rovers (1 try).

It was announced that he would leave the club at the end of the year.

SeasonAppearanceTriesGoalsF/GPoints
2012 Bradford Bulls92008
2013 Bradford Bulls28110044
2014 Bradford Bulls2280032
Total59210084

London Broncos

Kear signed for the London Broncos in 2015 and resigned for a further 2 years in 2016. He was awarded the No 1 shirt as starting Fullback for the 2017 season. On Sunday 12 February 2017 he played his 50th game for the Broncos at home against Hull KR.

Elliot played the 200th game of his professional Rugby League career on Saturday 2 September 2017 for the London Broncos v Warrington Wolves.

Rugby union

London Welsh

On 21 November 2014, Kear switched codes to rugby union as he signed for London Welsh, who compete in England's top rugby union competition, the Aviva Premiership from the 2014-15 season.[7] Kear made his début on 7 December 2014 against Edinburgh Rugby in the European Challenge Cup at Murrayfield. Kear made his first Aviva Premiership start against Saracens on Saturday 20 December scoring a try on his début at the Allianze Stadium in the away loss.

International career

Kear was appointed as the new Captain of Wales for the World Cup qualifiers and European Championship on Wednesday 12 September 2018. He won his first full International cap when he started as full back against England on 17 October 2009. He scored his first try for Wales on 25 October 2009, in their 88-8 victory over Serbia in the European Cup. A week later he scored his second try in Welsh colours, during their 42-12 win over Ireland in the European Cup. In the final against Scotland he scored another try for the Welsh and was voted man of the match in their 28-16 victory.

In 2010 he represented Wales in the Alitalia European Cup, scoring a hat-trick against Scotland. Playing in his second European Cup final Wales went on to beat France 12 -10 in Albi, the French paper La Depeche vote him as man of the match.

He scored tries against England and Australia in the 2011 Four Nations, and was named in the Wales squad for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

Kear scored a try in the 32-16 loss against Italy. Kear played against the USA and Cook Islands where he was named Man of the Match and selected at Fullback in the Rugby League World Cup Team of round 3.

Kear was selected in the Dragons team for the 2014 European Cup However he was unable to join the squad as he had recently changed codes to join London Welsh. He was selected for the 2015 European Cup tournament and played in all 3 games at Fullback, scoring a try in a Man of the Match display in the Final game against Ireland to ensure Wales secured their second European Championship.

Kear was selected in Wales' 22-man squad for the 2017 World Cup qualifiers.

He was selected in the Wales 9s squad for the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s.[8]

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References
  1. "Premiership Rugby Elliott Kear". Aviva Premiership Rugby. Premier Rugby. 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  2. "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "A school for sporting idols". South Wales Echo. 6 November 2011.
  5. Wilson, Andy (6 May 2011). "Crusaders ready to make Andy Powell an offer to switch next season". The Guardian. London.
  6. "Elliot Kear - surreal to be playing alongside Gareth Thomas". Crusaders. 29 March 2010. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  7. "London Welsh have signed Wales rugby league international wing Elliot Kear". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  8. "16-man squad for 9s World Cup revealed". Wales RL. 9 October 2019. Archived from the original on 10 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
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