Ritchie Hawkyard (born 21 January 1986), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

s of "Hawky", and "Titch", is a

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

former 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 most recently played at for

Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England who compete in League 1, the third tier of English rugby league. Keighley's home ground, Cougar Park has a capacity of 7,800. History Early y ...

in Betfred League 1.

Background

Hawkyard was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England.

Playing career

Bradford Bulls

A product of

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 ...

senior academy Hawkyard, 21, was drafted in for

Paul Deacon Paul Deacon (born 13 February 1979) is an English rugby union coach who is the head coach of the Sale Sharks in Premiership Rugby, and former a professional rugby league footballer and coach. A Great Britain and England international represen ...

and made his début against

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...

in round 14 of 2007 Super League season playing as a stand off.

Swinton Lions

At the end of the 2007 season having made three appearances for the Bulls, Hawkyard signed for

Swinton Lions The Swinton Lions are a professional rugby league club based in Swinton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Championship. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. Before 1996, the club was known s ...

Keighley Cougars

After nine seasons with Swinton during which he scored 58 tries in 182 appearances for the Lions Hawkyard was captain of the team when helping them to the league 1 leaders in 2011 as well as the League 1 Play off final against Keighley Cougars in 2015, Hawkyard joined Keighley Cougars for the start of the 2016 season. After being ever present for Keighley in the 2016 season and in his first season helping them win the ipro cup final, Hawkyard missed a number of games of the 2017 season after suffering severe facial injuries in a game against

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

at Easter and did not play again until July.

Oldham RLFC

The end of the 2018 season saw Hawkyard leave Keighley to join

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

due to the financial uncertainty at the Keighley club. Hawkyard was also Granted a 1-year testimonial starting in 2018 for his services to Rugby League. During the 2019 season Hawkyard made 22 appearances for Oldham scoring 12 tries and helping Oldham win promotion to the Championship with a man-of-the-match performance in the League 1 play-off final against

Newcastle Thunder The Newcastle Thunder are a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in the Betfred Championship competition, the second tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom. They play their home matches at Kingsto ...

Keighley Cougars (rejoin)

Hawkyard rejoined Keighley in October 2019 on a one-year contract but on 17 December 2019 announced his immediate retirement from the game, only to have a change of heart and rejoin the club in January 2020.

Coaching

Hawkyard was released by Keighley at the end of the aborted 2020 season and became player-coach at amateur side

Newsome Panthers Newsome Panthers ARLFC is an amateur rugby league club based in Newsome, Huddersfield. The club was founded with only two junior teams in 1995 and has since grown into one of the largest clubs in Yorkshire with teams for children of all ages. M ...

helping them win promotion in his first season at the club.

Representative

He is of Scottish descent and has played for

at international level, playing in a friendly game against France in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkyard, Richie 1986 births Living people Bradford Bulls players English people of Scottish descent English rugby league players Keighley Cougars players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Huddersfield Scotland national rugby league team players Swinton Lions players