Keith Senior

Keith Andrew Senior (born 24 April 1976) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Sheffield Eagles and the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League.

A Great Britain and England international representative, he is considered one of the greatest players of the Super League era.

He was signed from Huddersfield YMCA Rugby Union team by Gary Hetherington in 1994.

Senior played in the very first Super League match in 1996, a 30–24 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.

Senior made his Great Britain début in 1996, scoring a try after coming off the bench in the 72–4 win over Fiji.

He was also his club's top try scorer with 17 tries that season.

Senior played left-, i.e. number 4, in Sheffield Eagles' 17–8 victory over Wigan in the 1998 Challenge Cup Final during Super League III at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 2 May 1998.

He bettered that tally in 1998, when he scored 19 tries as the Eagles shocked the Rugby league world, beating the Wigan Warriors 17–8 in the Challenge Cup Final at the old Wembley Stadium.

He also made his first start for Great Britain in 1998, against New Zealand.

Senior made 140 appearances for the Eagles and scored 56 tries during his six seasons at the club.

Notably, two of those tries came against his future employer, the Leeds Rhinos.

Senior signed for the Rhinos on the final day of the 1999 Super League regular season.

He made his début for the club on the same day, against the London Broncos.

After a quiet start to his Rhinos career, Senior burst into life in 2000 finishing the season as joint top try scorer with 18, including four in a single match against the then Halifax Blue Sox.

Senior represented England at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.

Senior also represented Yorkshire in the now defunct 'War of the Roses' Origin Series, against cross-Pennine rivals Lancashire.

Senior played in three consecutive defeats in 2001 and 2002, twice at Headingley, scoring two tries.

In 2003 Yorkshire beat Lancashire.

Senior scored two tries in the 56–6 victory at Odsal Stadium.

In 2003 Senior was named the Leeds Rhinos Players' Player of the Year.

In 2004 Senior made 30 appearances and scored 13 tries as the Rhinos ended their 32-year wait for the Championship, beating the Bradford Bulls 16–8 in the 2004 Super League Grand Final.

By this time Senior held the record of playing the most Super League rounds of any player, with 223 out of a possible 237.

Senior was selected in the Great Britain team to compete in the end of season 2004 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament.

In the final against Australia he played at centre in the Lions' 44–4 loss.

On 23 December 2004 the Rugby Football League fined Senior along with Leeds' teammate Ryan Bailey £1,500 each after they tested positive to the banned stimulant ephedrine.

As Super League IX champions, the Rhinos faced 2004 NRL season premiers, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the 2005 World Club Challenge.

Senior played at centre in Leeds' 39–32 victory.

In 2005 Senior became only the 20th player in the club's history to score 100 tries in his career.

Senior played for the Rhinos in the 2005 Challenge Cup Final at centre in their loss against Hull FC.

In January 2007 Senior celebrated his Testimonial match for the Rhinos with a 50–0 thrashing of his home town club, the Huddersfield Giants.

Senior scored a late try in the match.

Also in 2007 Senior played in all three Test matches during the 3–0 series whitewash over New Zealand.

The third and final Test of the series was the last time Great Britain would play as a team.

Senior was an integral part of the Rhinos squad that won the Super League Grand Final for three consecutive seasons in 2007, 2008 and 2009, all against St. Helens.

Senior was selected for the England squad to compete in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup tournament in Australia.

Group A's first match against Papua New Guinea he played at centre in England's victory.

During his career he won every honour in the British domestic game and held the records for the most Super League appearances (413) and tries (199), until overtaken by Paul Wellens, and his former Leeds Rhinos team mate Danny McGuire, respectively, in 2012.

He represented both Great Britain and England at international level, and was named in the 'Rugby League World XIII' on three occasions.

Senior was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.

Senior began his career at the Sheffield Eagles.