Richard Swain (born 2 July 1975) is a New Zealand former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

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 are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998 ...

(with whom he won the 1999 NRL premiership) and

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

and in England for

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

Early years

Swain was born and raised in

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

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

Tom Learoyd-Lahrs Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (born 13 September 1985 in Tweed Heads, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s, he played in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. A New South Wa ...

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 ( Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) 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 native bird o ...

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 season ...

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 1989–92 World Cup (the 19 ...

tournament. In the final against Australia 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 Sto ...

against

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

Champions

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and bec ...

, 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 (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

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

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 Fou ...

, as it was his last gasp charge-down of

Kevin Sinfield Kevin Sinfield (born 12 September 1980) is the defence coach for the England national rugby union team. He is a former professional rugby league footballer, captain and director of rugby for the Leeds Rhinos. Sinfield also represented England ...

'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 the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed i ...

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 sportspeople in England 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 rugby league players People from Tamworth, New South Wales Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from New South Wales