Ryan Sheridan is a former
rugby leagueRugby league football is a full-contact form of football, played with a prolate spheroid ball by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. Rugby league is one of the two codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union...
player.
Sheridan was an
IrelandThe Ireland national rugby league team represent the island of Ireland in rugby league. Ireland are accredited as an affiliate nation of the Rugby League International Federation. The representative team is dominated by players from Super League and sometimes includes players from the Australasian...
international and played at the
2000 Rugby League World CupThe 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth staging of the tournament and was held during October and November in Great Britain, Ireland and France. Building on the previous successful competition, it was decided to expand the format further, with the number of teams rising from 10 to 16...
.
Leeds Career :
Ryan Sheridan was one of the most influential players in the late 1990s for the Rhinos. Having joined the club in December 1996 from Sheffield Eagles he was originally seen as a utility player and in his first season mixed between scrum half and hooker.
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Ryan Sheridan is a former
rugby leagueRugby league football is a full-contact form of football, played with a prolate spheroid ball by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. Rugby league is one of the two codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union...
player.
Sheridan was an
IrelandThe Ireland national rugby league team represent the island of Ireland in rugby league. Ireland are accredited as an affiliate nation of the Rugby League International Federation. The representative team is dominated by players from Super League and sometimes includes players from the Australasian...
international and played at the
2000 Rugby League World CupThe 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth staging of the tournament and was held during October and November in Great Britain, Ireland and France. Building on the previous successful competition, it was decided to expand the format further, with the number of teams rising from 10 to 16...
.
Leeds Career :
Ryan Sheridan was one of the most influential players in the late 1990s for the Rhinos. Having joined the club in December 1996 from Sheffield Eagles he was originally seen as a utility player and in his first season mixed between scrum half and hooker. However with the arrival of Graham Murray in 1998, Sheridan came of age and was the perfect foil to the individual brilliance of Iestyn Harris with his organisational skills.
The Dewsbury born Sheridan saved his best performances for the Rhinos for the Challenge Cup, a competition he seemed to have a love affair with. In 1999 he was man of the match in all three crucial games on the way to the Final against Wigan, St Helens and then Bradford in the semi final. His incredible pinching of the ball from Danny Peacock in the latter stages of the first half turned the game on its head and assured the Rhinos place at Wembley.
Indeed, in the final but for Leroy Rivett's late burst of four tries, Sheridan would surely have won the Lance Todd Trophy. He was magnificent under the twin towers, twice denying London in the opening quarter as they threatened to cause a huge upset. His last ditch tackle on Shaun Edwards and then Karle Hammond steadied the ship before the second half onslaught began. The following season Sheridan was back to his best in the cup again claiming man of the match awards three more times, a run which continued right up until 2002 when he again scooped the award in the memorable win over Bradford Bulls at Valley Parade. Sheridan's time at Leeds was only interrupted by a serious muscle tear in 2001 which virtually ruled him out for the whole season. In total, Sheridan made 145 starts for Leeds plus 9 substitute appearances. He scored 59 tries and four drop goals to give him a total of 240 points in the Blue and Amber.
Rugby Career
Ryan rose to international status in 1999 when he earned a place in the Great Britain squad that played in the Tri-Series Down Under. He started the first game against Australia and was then on the bench against New Zealand.
The following year Ryan teamed up with St Helens Tommy Martyn for Ireland to form one of the most dangerous half back combinations in the World Cup. Sheridan was outstanding for the Irish particularly in the crucial final group game against the New Zealand Maoris. He returned to representative rugby in 2002 when he captained Yorkshire in both Origin games and then represented Great Britain against Australia in Sydney in July of that year.
Ryan left the Rhinos in November 2002 and joined Super League rivals Widnes Vikings.
Sheridan started his career with Dewsbury Moor ARLFC and signed professionally with Sheffield Eagles in July 1991 making a total of 97 appearances, including 79 starts for the Eagles in his six seasons at the club. He scored 40 tries and one drop goal.
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