Stephen Kearney

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Stephen Peter Kearney
Born
Sunday, 11th June, 1972
Current Age
51 years and 282 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 %  
NRL 264 37 0   - 148 125 134 5 47.35% 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
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


International

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


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - 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

NRL/NSWRL - 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
Overall1992-2004 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 16 11 2 55.17% 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

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Paul Carter, Alan Katzmann, Terry Liberopoulos, Cymru RL, Bill Bates

Sources: ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2002, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2003, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2004, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL 2004 Official Rugby League Annual, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1994, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1995, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997