Richard Swain (born 2 July 1975) is a New Zealand former 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 played in the 1990s and 2000s. A

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

international , he played club football in Australia for the

Hunter Mariners The Hunter Mariners were an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Hunter Region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid-1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super Leagu ...

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

(with whom he won the 1999 NRL premiership) and

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

and in England for

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

Early years

Swain was born and raised in

Tamworth, New South Wales Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River (New South Wales), Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest ...

, Australia, he went to Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School, Tamworth the same school as former Canberra Raiders captain Alan Tongue and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs.

Playing career

Australia

Swain made his first grade début in 1997, playing for the new

club. With the demise of the club at the end of the year he moved south, joining the

. Swain never missed a game for the Melbourne Storm from the club's first ever match in round 1, 1998 up until his final game for the club in round 26, 2002. Swain declared his eligibility for New Zealand in 1999 and was selected for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

for that year's ANZAC Test. Swain played at hooker in

1999 NRL Grand Final The 1999 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 1999 NRL season. It was contested by the competition's two newest clubs: the Melbourne Storm, competing in only its second year (having finished the regular seas ...

victory over St. George Illawarra. Swain was selected for the New Zealand team to compete in the end of season

1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations The 1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations series was contested by Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand in 1999. It was the first multi-national rugby league tournament to feature the sport's three world powers since the 1989–1992 Rugby League Wor ...

tournament. In the final against

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 ...

he played at in the Kiwis' 22-20 loss. Having won the 1999 Premiership, the

traveled to England to contest the

2000 World Club Challenge The 2000 World Club Challenge was contested by 1999 NRL season premiers, the Melbourne Storm and 1999's Super League IV champions, St. Helens. The match was played on 22 January at JJB Stadium, Wigan before a crowd of 13,394. The Melbourne St ...

against

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 ...

Champions

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

, with Kimmorley playing at in the victory. Swain went on to play in nineteen tests for

, including at the 2000 World Cup. Swain was named the Storm's player of the year in 2001. Swain also the first player in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

to top 1,000 Tackles in a season and was also

's "Top Tackler" in 2004 with 907 tackles for Hull. He went on the 2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France and was the goal-kicker and leading point-scorer of the tour. Swain spent 2003 with the

before joining Hull F.C. for four years in the

England

Swain played at and was a major part in Hull F.C. winning the

2005 Challenge Cup The 2005 Powergen Rugby League Challenge Cup was played by teams from across Europe during the 2005 rugby league season. Hull F.C. won the cup defeating Leeds Rhinos in the final. Qualifying round First round Second round Third round F ...

, as it was his last gasp charge-down of

Kevin Sinfield Kevin Sinfield (born 12 September 1980) is an English rugby union coach, currently the skills and kicking coach for the England national rugby union team, England national team. He is a former professional rugby league player for Leeds Rhinos, ...

's drop-goal attempt that ended the Leeds Rhinos' last chance of taking the game to extra-time. Kevin Sinfield was named

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to man of the match in the annual Challenge Cup Final. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was kill ...

winner 5-minutes from time, when at the time Leeds Rhinos were winning. Hull F.C. reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against St. Helens and Swain played at in his side's 4-26 loss. Swain retired halfway through the 2007 season due to a back injury.Swain is forced to quit Hull
''Liverpool Echo'', 11 July 2007

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swain, Richard 1975 births Living people Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Hull F.C. captains Hull F.C. players Hunter Mariners players Melbourne Storm players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Tamworth, New South Wales