Paul Sykes (rugby league)

Paul Sykes (born 11 August 1981) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a stand-off for the Dewsbury Rams in the Betfred Championship. Sykes has played as a left-footed goal-kicking centre, fullback and stand-off during his career.[2][3]

For other people with the same name, see Paul Sykes (disambiguation).

Paul Sykes
Personal information
Full namePaul Sykes
Born (1981-08-11) 11 August 1981
Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight14 st 7 lb (92 kg)[1]
Playing information
PositionFullback, Centre, Stand-off
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1999–02 Bradford Bulls 10 2 3 0 14
2002–07 London Broncos / Quins RL 134 46 272 4 732
2008–12 Bradford Bulls 100 36 72 2 290
2012(Loan) → Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 22 3 73 3 161
2013–14 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 40 9 55 3 149
2015 Featherstone Rovers 32 16 89 0 242
2016– Dewsbury Rams 79 22 178 4 448
Total 417 134 742 16 2036
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2005–10 England 5 2 6 0 20
2007–08 Great Britain 1 1 0 0 4
As of 22 April 2018
Source: [2][3][4][5]

He has previously also played for the Featherstone Rovers (Heritage № 1014) (captain), the Bradford Bulls (Heritage №), the London Broncos/Harlequins RL (Heritage № 384) and the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (Heritage № 1318).

Background

Sykes was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England.

Bradford

Paul Sykes is a product of Bradford Bulls academy, making his breakthrough in the 1999 Bradford season during 1999's Super League IV. However opportunities at Odsal Stadium were limited and so Sykes went on loan spells at London in both the 2001 and 2002 seasons.

In his first spell at Bradford Bulls, he was loaned out to Wakefield RFC for which he played one game of Rugby Union.

Sykes playing for Harlequins Rugby League

Move to London

With the promise of more regular first XIII rugby Sykes moved south to join the London Broncos in a permanent deal in August 2002.

Sykes soon settled back to life in the capital and representative honours were gained with an appearance for England "A" against New Zealand in October, followed by a place on the successful "A" team tour to Fiji and Tonga.

Sykes has further earned England caps against Russia and Wales in 2003 and France and New Zealand in 2005.[4]

Sykes originally came to the club as full-back, but the arrival of club captain Mark McLinden has seen Sykes operate largely in the centres in Super League X and XI.

Paul successfully converted during 2005 to the centre position where his powerful running and strong tackling are seen to their best advantage.

Super League XI saw Paul Sykes ruled out for much of the season after damaging his kidneys in February. However he made a comeback towards the end of the season after initially being ruled out for the entire campaign

2005 was a record breaking year for Sykes. On 27 February against the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Sykes kicked 12 goals from 12 attempts to break a 17-year-old London club record.

Further records for most goals and most points followed at the season's end and in recognition of these achievements Paul was voted Supporters' Player-of-the-Year for 2005. Harlequins centre Paul Sykes has confirmed his expected move to Bradford for next season on a two-year contract.

Paul Sykes, who made his Great Britain début earlier this season, left Bradford on loan in 2002 to find first-team rugby.[5]

Quins coach Brian McDermott also paid tribute to Sykes's contribution at the Stoop.

Bradford and the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Paul Sykes signed for Bradford Bulls in September 2007 as a replacement for the departing Ben Harris.

On rejoining Bradford he said: "A lot's changed at Bradford since the first time around and I think there's only Paul Deacon and Jamie Langley still there. "But I'm ready for a fresh challenge and I'm hoping to move back north to win some silverware. Bradford are always challenging and I'm glad I'm going to be a part of that. "Also, my girlfriend has just given birth to our first child as well and we want to be closer to our family." Boss Steve McNamara reckons he has picked up a rare talent, and added "I'm absolutely delighted to have secured an outstanding English centre and thank the board for making the deal possible".

In the 2012 season Sykes was loaned out to fellow West Yorkshire club the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats after only playing 2 games for Bradford Bulls. Here he managed to help lead the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats into the play-offs ironically at the expense of Bradford Bulls. Sykes soon signed a permanent 1-year deal with the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats for the 2013 season.

Career statistics
SeasonAppearanceTriesGoalsF/GPoints
2008 Bradford29163070
2009 Bradford261017074
2010 Bradford274482114
2011 Bradford1662028
2012 Bradford20204
2012 Wakefield Trinity193712157
2013 Wakefield Trinity16536294
2014 Wakefield Trinity24428173
Total159482078614

Great Britain

In June 2007 Sykes was called up to the Great Britain squad[6][7] and will play in the centres in the Test match against France.[8]

Sykes is joined in the Great Britain Test side by Harlequins RL teammate Chris Melling.[9]

Paul Sykes made his Great Britain début in the 42–14 victory over the French on 22 June 2007, scoring one try.[10][11]

England

In September 2008 he was named in the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup,[12] and in October 2008 he was named in the final 24-man England squad.[13]

He has been named in the England team to face Wales at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster, prior to England's departure for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[14]

Sykes has also represented the England in their warm up match against Wales before the 2009 Four Nations.

References
  1. "The official Engage Super League web site". web page. Super League. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  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. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. "Eight new faces in Lions squad". BBC. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
  7. "Melling and Sykes named in GB squad". Quins RL. 13 June 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
  8. "New-look GB select five new caps". BBC. 20 June 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  9. "Melling and Sykes to play at Headingley". Quins. 20 June 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  10. "Great Britain 42–14 France". BBC. 22 June 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2007.
  11. "Hungry Lions Please Smith". SportingLife. 22 June 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2007.
  12. "Myler gets England call". England Rugby League. 29 September 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  13. "Purdham earns World Cup call-up". BBC. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  14. "Gleeson to lead new-look England". BBC. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
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