Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Full Name
- Stephen Peter Kearney
- Born
- Sunday, 11th June, 1972
- Current Age
- 51 years and 343 days
- Place Of Birth
- Paraparaumu, Wellington, New Zealand
Biography
Junior Kiwi representative captain showed tremendous promise in Wests’ President's Cup grand final win over St George in 1992. Kearney developed into an accomplished ball-playing forward in 1993 and toured England and France with the Kiwi national side at the end of the year. He became the youngest player to captain NZ in a Test match that year (21 years 148 days, against Great Britain) but, incredibly, was injured when he fell from the balcony of a French hotel after the fixture collapsed. Kearney signed with the Auckland Warriors in 1995 but was frustrated by the club’s inconsistency and quickly found himself offside with club officials. In 1997 he led NZ to victory in the inaugural World Nines (Super League) competition in Fiji. He captained NZ in the ANZac Test the following year but was overlooked as leader in favour of Matthew Ridge and Quentin Pongia in the two Tests against Australia in September 1998. When a consortium headed by Graham Lowe brought the Warriors club in 1999 Kearney joined Melbourne but was suspended for a dangerous tackle early in the season and missed the ANZac Test. Cleared to play his part in Melbourne’s grand final victory after he was cited for an alleged high tackle on Parramatta’s Jason Smith, Kearney was again suspended in 2000 when his reckless tackle of opposing centre Jarrod McCracken eventually resulted in the W’Tigers captain’s early retirement. Kearney was a member of the NZ World Cup team in 2000 and was one of the Storms’ best players in the disappointing 2001 season in which the club failed to make the play-offs for the first time. In 2003 Kearney became the second-most capped player (44 Tests) in Kiwi Test history and captained Melbourne to the semi-finals in successive years before leaving Australia to see out his career with Hull in 2004.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Playing Career Statistics
All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.
To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.
Competitions | ||||||||||||||
Competition | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL Premiership | 264 | 37 | 0 | - | 148 | 125 | 134 | 5 | 47.35% | List | ||||
Challenge Cup AU | 6 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
Test Series | 20 | 5 | - | - | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 55.00% | List | ||||
Tour Matches | New Zealand | 18 | 4 | - | - | 16 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 72.22% | List | |||
World Cup | 9 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 77.78% | List | ||||
Anzac Tests | 3 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL Finals | 9 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 55.56% | List | ||||
Tri-Nations | 3 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
World Club Challenge | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
Super League | 24 | 5 | - | - | 20 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 45.83% | List | ||||
Challenge Cup | 5 | - | - | - | - | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
Super League Finals | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
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Test Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
New Zealand | 1993-04 | 45 | 9 | - | - | 36 | 25 | 17 | 3 | 55.56% | List | |||
World Cup Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
New Zealand | 1993-2000 | 9 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 77.78% | List | |||
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NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL Premiership - By Year | ||||||||||||||
Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Western Suburbs | NSWRL 1992 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
Western Suburbs | NSWRL 1993 | 22 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 31.82% | List | |||
Western Suburbs | NSWRL 1994 | 21 | 4 | - | - | 16 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 28.57% | List | |||
Auckland | ARL 1995 | 20 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 55.00% | List | |||
Auckland | ARL 1996 | 21 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 47.62% | List | |||
Auckland | Super League 1997 | 17 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 41.18% | List | |||
Auckland | NRL 1998 | 21 | 5 | - | - | 20 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 38.10% | List | |||
Melbourne | NRL 1999 | 22 | 4 | - | - | 16 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 72.73% | List | |||
Melbourne | NRL 2000 | 19 | 4 | - | - | 16 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 52.63% | List | |||
Melbourne | NRL 2001 | 26 | 4 | - | - | 16 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 42.31% | List | |||
Melbourne | NRL 2002 | 23 | 5 | - | - | 20 | 9 | 13 | 1 | 39.13% | List | |||
Melbourne | NRL 2003 | 25 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 60.00% | List | |||
Melbourne | NRL 2004 | 24 | 1 | 0 | / | 1 | 0.00% | - | 4 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 54.17% | List |
NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL Premiership - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Western Suburbs | 1992-94 | 46 | 6 | - | - | 24 | 15 | 29 | 2 | 32.61% | List | |||
Warriors | 1995-98 | 79 | 11 | - | - | 44 | 36 | 43 | 0 | 45.57% | List | |||
Melbourne | 1999-04 | 139 | 20 | - | / | 1 | 0.00% | - | 80 | 74 | 62 | 3 | 53.24% | List |
Overall | 1992-2004 | 264 | 37 | 0 | / | 1 | 0.00% | 0 | 148 | 125 | 134 | 5 | 47.35% | List |
English Career - By Year | ||||||||||||||
Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Hull FC | 2005 | 29 | 5 | - | - | 20 | 17 | 12 | 2 | 58.62% | List | |||
English Career - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Hull FC | 2005 | 29 | 5 | - | - | 20 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 55.17% | List |
Contributions:
Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Paul Carter, Alan Katzmann, Terry Liberopoulos, Cymru RL, Bill Bates, Greg Fiveash
Sources:
David Middleton's Rugby League Yearbook (1987-88 to present), Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook (1981-82 to 1999)
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