Kirk Yeaman

Kirk Yeaman (born 15 September 1983) is a former English professional rugby league footballer who played as a centre. An England and Great Britain international, he played his entire club career for Hull in the Super League, but also made two appearances for Doncaster as a dual-registration player.

Kirk Yeaman
Personal information
Full nameKirk Yeaman
Born (1983-09-15) 15 September 1983
Kingston upon Hull, Humberside, England
Playing information
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Weight14 st 9 lb (93 kg)[1]
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2001–16 Hull 373 176 0 0 704
2016 Doncaster 2 1 0 0 4
2018 Hull 1 0 0 0 0
Total 376 177 0 0 708
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2004–11 England 8 3 0 0 12
2006–07 Great Britain 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3][4][5]

He made 373 appearances for Hull between 2001 and 2016 before retiring after a 15-year career with the club, but briefly came out of retirement in May 2018 to register himself as a player due to the number of injury problems the club had.[6]

Early life

Yeaman was born at Hedon Road Maternity Hospital in Hull on 15 September 1983. He is the son of Debbie, who worked for Hull-based Smith & Nephew, and Dale Yeaman, a laminator. He has an older brother, Scott, who played rugby league for Hull Kingston Rovers and York Wasps, and a younger sister, Jessica.[7] He attended Bransholme High School,[8] and played junior rugby league for Myton Warriors.[9]

Career

Yeaman came up through the ranks at Hull, a centre who was likened to Jamie Lyon[10] and also a proven try scorer. He made his debut in August 2001 against London Broncos.[11] He scored 17 tries at the end of the 2005 season and an impressive tally in 2006 that took him over the 20 try mark.

Hull F.C. reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against St. Helens, and Yeaman played at centre in his side's 4-26 loss.[12] His performances in 2006 saw him included in the Super League Dream Team.

Despite some injuries, he was called up to the Tri Nations in Australia, playing in two matches.

Yeaman signed a three-year contract extension with Hull , and he remained with the club until the end of the 2010 season.

He was forced to rule himself out contention for the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup through injury.[13]

Yeaman has a 2005 Challenge Cup winners medal after Hull beat Leeds 25-24 in the first ever August Challenge Cup Final, he was also a member of the Hull squad that reached the 2006 Super League Grand Final (losing to St. Helens) and was a double try scorer In Hull's 28-16 defeat also against St. Helens in the 2008 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

In 2011, Yeaman was rewarded for his form with Hull F.C. by being called up to the England Squad along with wing partner Tom Briscoe for the Four Nations. He was also included in the Super League Dream Team, again along with Briscoe.

At the start of the 2016 season, Yeaman made two appearances for Doncaster as a dual-registration player.[14]

On 3 June 2016, a try against Widnes took Yeaman over the 700 point mark for Hull, consisting of 177 tries. Yeaman is only the second player in Hull's history to score 700 points without kicking a single goal. The late Clive Sullivan MBE is the other.

He played in the 2016 Challenge Cup Final victory over the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[15][16]

Yeaman announced his retirement as a player at the end of the 2016 season.[17] He is third on Hull's all-time try scoring list with 177; only Clive Sullivan and Ivor Watts are ahead of him.

After retiring as a player, Yeaman joined the coaching staff at Hull. In 2018, Yeaman came out of retirement to play against local rivals Hull KR in a 34–22 win at the Magic Weekend.[18] He left his coaching role in 2021 to start a career with the Prison Service.[19]

In 2023, he was inducted into Hull FC's Hall of Fame.[20]

Honours

Club

Individual

References
  1. "Hull 1st Team Kirk Yeaman". Hull FC. Hull FC. 2015. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  2. "Player Summary: Kirk Yeaman". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. "Yeaman returns from retirement for Hull FC".
  7. Yeaman, Kirk; Bond, David (2017). Yeamo: My Career in Black and White. Vertical Editions. ISBN 978-1-908847-06-5.
  8. "Hull's home-grown dream team of 13 rugby league stars". Hull Daily Mail. 17 March 2020 – via PressReader.
  9. "Community Club of the Week: Myton Warriors". Hull FC. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  10. David Burke (2 November 2006). "Yeaman's daunting debut". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  11. "King reigns over London". The Guardian. 20 August 2001. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  12. "St Helens 26-4 Hull FC". BBC News. 14 October 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  13. "Yeaman to face surgery decision". BBC. 22 September 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  14. "'It has been tough on the sidelines', says Hull FC's Kirk Yeaman". Yorkshire Post. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  15. "Hull FC's Jamie Shaul's late try takes Challenge Cup away from Warrington". Guardian. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  16. "Challenge Cup final: Hull FC 12-10 Warrington Wolves". BBC. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  17. "Kirk Yeaman: Hull FC favourite to retire at end of 2016 season". BBC Sport. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  18. "Hull KR 22-34 Hull FC: Black and Whites take Magic Weekend derby honours". Sky Sports. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  19. "Kirk Yeaman leaves Hull FC coaching position in favour of new career path". Hull Daily Mail. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  20. "Hull FC add four club legends to Hall of Fame at special ceremony". Yorkshire Post. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
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