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Senior supplying sterling service ahead of milestone
THERE are few images that will more define the last decade at Headingley than a bald-headed centre charging down the South Stand side and wreaking all-round damage to whoever was unfortunate enough to line up opposite Keith Senior.
That Senior will make his 500th career appearance in tomorrow's Super League encounter at Hull is testament to his durability and enduring quality amongst the cut and thrust of one of the most brutal of sports.
Opting for a career in rugby league is one that is fraught with the hazards of standing in the way of one 18st monster after another. Somehow, though, Senior has managed to avoid the knocks that finish lesser men and will become the only current player to reach the 500-game milestone when he runs out at the KC Stadium.
"Touch wood, I've always been quick with my recovery," says Senior. "The only time I've been out for any length was in 2005 when Joe Vagana squashed me and did my ankle."
Sixteen years ago, a young Senior, still at that stage complete with hair, could be found on Yorkshire's rugby union pitches with no idea of the remarkable journey upon which he was about to embark.
"I played for Huddersfield YMCA and then switched to rugby league and had a couple of months in the Pennine League Division Four," he says.
"I hadn't got much experience when I signed for Sheffield and I still remember my debut. It was against Widnes and it was the first time Sheffield ever got nilled. I think we got beat 22-0 and I was playing out on the wing."
Fast forward to the present day and the 33-year-old veteran looks relaxed and at ease with himself as he talks to reporters ahead of tomorrow's remarkable feat.
"I'm proud of it," he says. "I'm proud of the fact I've been playing for so long and that I've achieved so much in the game. At the beginning of the season, I knew it was coming up and I've been looking forward to it.
"I miscalculated it because I thought it was the Bradford game, but it's still going to be quite fitting – I had my 300th Super League game against Hull and now I've got my 500th career game against them. It's something I'm really proud of.
"If you'd have said to me as a spotty 17-year-old that I'd play 500 Super League games and still keep going, and achieve everything that I have in the game, I'd have just laughed in your face.
"It's something that I've been consistently proud of throughout my career that each week I've put my boots on and tried to perform 100 per cent."
Senior's ability to still perform at the highest level, despite the many moons that have passed since he first laced up his boots, is beyond question – his wingers will testify to that.
Last season, Scott Donald benefited from having Senior inside him and this year Ryan Hall is leading the try-scoring charts after finding himself lucky enough to be stood outside one of the game's best suppliers.
"It's great when I do score but try contributions and things like that, when people around me are scoring, that's just as important.
"Ryan Hall's top of the try-scoring charts at the moment and that gives me a huge buzz because I feel like I've made a massive contribution to him getting there. I take just as much satisfaction out of that as me crossing the whitewash myself."
In total, Senior has touched down 229 times in his 499 games so far. Among that tally have been 12 tries for Great Britain, one for England and four for Yorkshire but it is for different reasons that Senior picks out some of his most memorable fixtures.
"The game where we beat St Helens by 70-odd points stands out but there's also the game at St Helens that was absolutely freezing cold. It's the worst feeling in the world; you wonder why the hell you are doing it when you can't feel your toes after 10 minutes.
"The other one was Castleford away earlier this season when it was absolutely torrential rain. They're the type of games that you remember. Sometimes you wonder why you do it but then you get to the end of the year and the grand finals, it's definitely worth all the hard work."
A third grand final appearance in as many years remains on the cards but Senior insists there is still progress to be made if Leeds are to complete a hat-trick of Super League titles.
"At the moment, we've still got a lot of work to do. It's been a very strange season. It's been very indifferent and that's all around the park really – there's only been St Helens who have been properly consistent.
"We put in a superb performance against Harlequins and then we were pretty abysmal against Bradford.
"But that's the joy of playing for Leeds: even though you win, you can still sometimes sit in that changing room and feel as though you've lost."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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