Syd Hynes RIP

It is with much sadness that the club has learned today of the passing of legendary former player, captain and coach Syd Hynes, aged 80, following a short illness in Perth, Australia, where has lived for many years.  

Hynes was inducted into the Leeds Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2019. Born and bred south of the river and educated at Bewerley Street School, at a time when Edgar Meeks, the Hunslet Vice-Chairman, was Headmaster, and Harry Jepson a member of staff, Syd Hynes would surely have been snapped up as a youngster by the Parkside club had he not been something of a late developer. As it was, straying from the fold after a spell with Hunslet Juniors, he eventually switched to Rugby Union. Making his way to Headingley to ask for trials, he played two of his four 'A' team games at No 7 and was promptly signed as a professional in October 1964, three months after celebrating his 21st birthday.

Developing into a tenacious, no-quarter-asked-or-given centre of quick-witted resource and lively imagination, he was destined to play an increasingly prominent role from 1966 onwards, as the Loiners climbed from a barren valley of desolation to enjoy eight fabulous seasons on fertile uplands of matchless endeavour, with trophies merely the by-product of rugby as superb as any ever witnessed at Headingley. League Leaders on five occasions and Yorkshire Champions on four, of the fourteen Finals they contested, he missed only the 1972 League Championship.

As for representative honours, the first of his four appearances for Yorkshire, in September 1968, followed in due course by a couple of debut tries for England versus Wales, opened the way for a dream Tour in 1970, with several Australian clubs bidding in vain for his services and a place in the Great Britain side, scoring a crucial try in the Sydney test.

In June 1975, immediately following the completion of Roy Francis' second term at Headingley, came Syd's bombshell appointment as the first, and currently still the only player-coach in the history of the Club. Nor had he long to wait before registering his first success, taking over at scrum-half in the Yorkshire Cup Final, and countering the wiles of Roger Millward as the Loiners put paid to Hull Kingston Rovers by 15 points to 11. That, however, ended the 'honeymoon', with no further cause for celebration until victory over Featherstone Rovers in the 1976 Final gave him his sixth Yorkshire Cup-winner's medal, and his last as a player, for just five weeks later an injury sustained in a 3rd Round John Player match against Castleford precipitated the decision to hang up his boots and concentrate on coaching.

He made 355 appearances for his only club but more success was to follow when he took up the coaching role full time. In May 1977, his side beat Widnes at Wembley to lift the Challenge Cup and they repeated the act a year later in a dramatic win over St Helens. The following year, in 1979, Leeds beat Bradford Northern in the Premiership Final at Fartown. Furthermore, before he resigned in April 1981 he notched up two more Yorkshire Cup successes, over Halifax and Hull Kingston Rovers, to finish with a proud record as player-coach and coach: seven Finals, and never on the losing side!

Leeds Rhinos Chief Executive Gary Hetherington, who had stayed in touch with Hynes throughout his retirement in Australia added, “It is a sad day for the club to have lost a legendary player, captain and coach, who was an incredible character. Our thoughts are with his family and Syd’s many friends both here in England and over in Perth. We will pay tribute to Syd at our Boxing Day game and we will also look to organise an event for his former club and country team mates and opponents to come together to celebrate his life in due course.”

Syd is survived by his loving brother Graham, sister in laws Pam and Barbara and his four nieces and three nephews as well as his extended family.