James Bentley (born 19 October 1997) is an Ireland international

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 plays as a or for the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

in the

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 wh ...

. He played for the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. Bentley played for St Helens in the

Betfred 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 wh ...

and spent time on loan from

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

at the

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club that play in the Championship (rugby league), Betfred Championship. The club play their home games at the Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) on the former site of Don Valley Stadium, their forme ...

and the

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

in the

Betfred Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, ...

Background

Bentley was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, West Yorkshire, England.

Playing career

Early career

Bentley started his path towards a professional Rugby League career at Featherstone Rovers in the scholarship ranks after coming from nearby, Oulton Raiders. After his first season with the club, no game time and a change of coaching staff, he followed the fellow coaching staff to Bradford Bulls.

Bradford Bulls

Bentley came up through the Bradford Bulls academy and made his initial appearance for the Bradford Bulls in 2016 against the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

in a pre season game and went on to make sporadic appearances throughout

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. Bentley cemented his place in the Bradford Bulls first team in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. Despite the club's 12 point deduction, Bentley impressed scoring 18 tries. After the Bradford Bulls were relegated, Bentley signed for

side St. Helens.

St Helens

At the end of the 2017 season Bentley signed a two-year deal with

side St. Helens. He joined the

Rugby League Dual registration Dual registration refers to an arrangement between clubs whereby a player continues to be registered to his current club and is also registered to play for a club in a lower league. The system is mostly aimed at young Super League players who are t ...

in 2018 as part of a deal between the two clubs. He played for Sheffield against the

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional English rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire that compete in the Championship. They play their home games at the Tetley's Stadium, on Owl Lane. The Rams' main fanbase comes from their hometo ...

. He played in St Helens 8-4

2020 Super League Grand Final The 2020 Super League Grand Final was the 23rd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXV. The game was won 8–4 by St Helens R.F.C., St Helens over their local rivals Wigan Warriors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in ...

victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull. He signed a one-year contract extension with St Helens for the 2021 season. On 4 May 2021, he was ruled out for an indefinite period after suffering a badly broken leg.

Leeds

On 21 June 2021, it was reported that he had signed for

in the

In round 1 of the 2022 Super League season, Bentley made his club debut for Leeds against

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

but was sent off after only 16 minutes on the field. On 23 May 2022, Bentley was suspended for three matches in relation to a dangerous high tackle during Leeds victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

. In round 16 of the 2022 Super League season, Bentley was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul during Leeds 42-12 loss against his former club St Helens. In the 2022 Semi-Final, Bentley scored two tries for Leeds in a shock 20-8 victory over

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

which sent the club into the Grand Final. On 24 September 2022, Bentley played for Leeds in their 24-12 loss to

St Helens RFC 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 becom ...

in the 2022 Super League Grand Final. Bentley represented Ireland at the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

and played in all three group stage matches. On 14 November, the Rugby Football League placed Bentley under investigation after he was alleged to have been involved in a fight with England and

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

player

Victor Radley Victor Derrick Radley (born 14 March 1998) is an England international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL. He won back-to-back NRL premierships with the Roosters in 2018 and 2019. Background Radley was ...

at England's team hotel. Bentley played a total of 17 games for Leeds in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished 8th on the table and missed the playoffs.

Statistics

Statistics do not include pre-season friendlies.

References

External links

St Helens profileBradford Bulls profileSL profileSaints Heritage Society profileIreland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, James 1996 births Living people Bradford Bulls players English people of Irish descent English rugby league players Ireland national rugby league team players Irish rugby league players Leeds Rhinos players Leigh Leopards players Rugby league locks Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Leeds Sheffield Eagles players St Helens R.F.C. players