Elliot Kear (born 29 November 1988), is a Welsh professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a or for the Batley Bulldogs in the

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at international level. He is now the record 2nd all time Welsh cap holder with 34 caps. He previously played for Crusaders RL in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, and on loan at the South Wales Scorpions in League 1 and the Hunslet Hawks in the Co-operative Championship. Kear has also played for the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

and

. He has played 34 times for

in European competitions, 2011 Four Nations, 2013 Rugby League World Cup 2017 Rugby League World Cup

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

. He is their fourth all-time top try scorer. He was made Wales captain on 27 October 2018. He played rugby union for

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

in the Aviva Premiership.

Early life

Kear was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. He attended Whitchurch High School in his hometown

, and was in the same year as Sam Warburton and

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, and the Wales national ...

. He excelled in a number of sports while in school. He also represented Cardiff schools at

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and played for the Cardiff Demons amateur rugby league club. Eliott Kear Crusaders

Rugby league

Crusaders RL

Kear made his

début on 22 August 2009 at Rodney Parade in Newport against the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

. He was named man of the match after making several fine try-saving tackles against the eventual Super League champions. He also played in Celtic Crusaders final two games of the season against

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

and

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

. On 7 October 2009, Kear signed his first professional contract at Celtic Crusaders for the 2010 season, hoping to cement his place as the first choice full back at the club, under new head coach Brian Noble. In May 2010, Kear was recalled to the Crusaders first team playing in the Challenge cup 4th Round loss at Leeds. Playing on the Left wing Kear made the first Crusaders try and scored a second half try in a performance that earn't him praise from the commentators and his coach Iestyn Harris. The following game Kear played an important part in the crucial win over the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats which also saw him selected in the Frontline index Super League team of Round 14.

Bradford Bulls

Kear signed for the

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

side for three years. The Bradford side beat of stiff competition from numerous

clubs to secure the highly rated winger's signature. Kear played three seasons with Bradford before signing with the

London Broncos

Kear signed for the

in 2015 and resigned for a further two years in 2016. He was awarded the No 1 shirt as starting Fullback for the 2017 season. On Sunday 12 February 2017 he played his 50th game for the London side at home against Hull KR. Kear played the 200th game of his professional Rugby League career on Saturday 2 September 2017 for the London Broncos against Warrington.

Bradford Bulls (re-join)

On 15 May 2021, it was reported that he had signed for Bradford in the

in order to play part-time and start a new role outside rugby as a firefighter.

Rugby union

London Welsh

On 21 November 2014, Kear switched codes to

as he signed for

, who compete in England's top rugby union competition, the Aviva Premiership from the 2014-15 season. Kear made his début on 7 December 2014 against Edinburgh Rugby in the European Challenge Cup at Murrayfield. Kear made his first Aviva Premiership start against Saracens on Saturday 20 December scoring a try on his début at the Allianze Stadium in the away loss.

International career

Kear was appointed as the new Captain of Wales for the World Cup qualifiers and European Championship on Wednesday 12 September 2018. He won his first full International cap when he started as full back against England on 17 October 2009. He scored his first try for Wales on 25 October 2009, in their 88-8 victory over Serbia in the European Cup. A week later he scored his second try in Welsh colours, during their 42-12 win over

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the European Cup. In the final against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

he scored another try for the Welsh and was voted man of the match in their 28-16 victory. In 2010 he represented Wales in the Alitalia European Cup, scoring a hat-trick against Scotland. Playing in his second European Cup final Wales went on to beat France 12 -10 in Albi, the French paper La Depeche vote him as man of the match. He scored tries against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the 2011 Four Nations, and was named in the Wales squad for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. Kear scored a try in the 32-16 loss against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Kear played against the USA and

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

where he was named Man of the Match and selected at Fullback in the Rugby League World Cup Team of round 3. Kear was selected in the Dragons team for the 2014 European Cup However he was unable to join the squad as he had recently changed codes to join London Welsh. He was selected for the 2015 European Cup tournament and played in all 3 games at Fullback, scoring a try in a Man of the Match display in the Final game against Ireland to ensure Wales secured their second European Championship. Kear was selected in Wales' 22-man squad for the 2017 World Cup qualifiers. He was selected in the Wales 9s squad for the

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League membe ...

References

External links

London Broncos profileSL profile
*(archived by web.archive.org) *(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at rlwc2017.comWales profileWelsh profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kear, Elliot 1988 births Living people Batley Bulldogs players Bradford Bulls players Crusaders Rugby League players Footballers who switched code Hunslet R.L.F.C. players London Broncos players London Skolars players London Welsh RFC players People educated at Whitchurch High School Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Cardiff Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Cardiff Salford Red Devils players South Wales Scorpions players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Wales national rugby league team captains Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players