{{Short description|Australian rugby league footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}} {{Infobox rugby league biography |name = Kevin McGuinness |fullname = |image = |caption = |position = {{Rlp|CE}} |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|11|10|df=yes}} |birth_place = New South Wales, Australia |height = {{convert|174|cm|ftin|abbr=on}} |weight = {{convert|81|kg|stlb|abbr=on}} |retired = yes |club1 = {{nowrap|Western Suburbs}} |year1start = 1995 |year1end = 99 |appearances1 = 94 |tries1 = 37 |goals1 = 0 |fieldgoals1 = 0 |points1 = 148 |club2 = Wests Tigers |year2start = 2000 |year2end = 02 |appearances2 = 55 |tries2 = 30 |goals2 = 1 |fieldgoals2 = 1 |points2 = 123 |club3 = Manly Sea Eagles |year3start = 2003 |year3end = |appearances3 = 16 |tries3 = 5 |goals3 = 0 |fieldgoals3 = 0 |points3 = 20 |club4 = Salford City Reds |year4start = 2004 |year4end = 07 |appearances4 = 70 |tries4 = 14 |goals4 = 0 |fieldgoals4 = 0 |points4 = 44 |teamA = NSW City |yearAstart = 2002 |yearAend = |appearancesA = 1 |triesA = 1 |goalsA = 0 |fieldgoalsA = 0 |pointsA = 4 |source = <ref>[http://www.rugbyleagueproject.com/players/Kevin_McGuinness.html Kevin McGuinness at The Rugby League project]</ref><ref>[http://stats.rleague.com/rl/scorers/players/Kevin_McGuinness.html RL stats] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724122904/http://stats.rleague.com/rl/scorers/players/Kevin_McGuinness.html |date=24 July 2008}}</ref> |new = yes |updated = 16 October 2019 | module = {{infobox person | embed = yes | father = | mother = | spouse = | education = | alma_mater = | relatives = Ken McGuinness (brother) }} }}
'''Kevin McGuinness''' (born 10 November 1976) is an Indigenous Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, and 2000s. He played for Salford City Reds in the Super League, the Western Suburbs Magpies, Wests Tigers and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) competition. His position of choice is at {{rlp|ce}}.
==Career== While attending Sarah Redfern High School, McGuinness played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1995.<ref>{{cite web|title=SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League|url=http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=7-2130-0-0-0&sID=26424|accessdate=2008-10-10|publisher=SportingPulse|archive-date=31 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131030043/http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=7-2130-0-0-0&sID=26424|url-status=dead}}</ref>
McGuinness was graded to Western Suburbs on 7 May 1995 when he was 18, playing from the bench against the Penrith Panthers. His older brother, Ken, was in the same side. He played two more games as a reserve, before playing as halfback in two games late in the season, both losses.
McGuinness started 1996 as a centre. In round 4, he scored his first try against the Auckland Warriors, in what was described as, "a two-try, five-star performance," as Western Suburbs won 22–8.<ref>{{cite news| work= The Sydney Morning Herald| title=Magpies Have The Homefans Singing| author=Steve Mascord|date=5 April 1996}}</ref> He finished the season with 7 tries from 21 games, alternating between centre, wing and bench. He was chosen as a reserve in the qualifying final loss against Cronulla, in what was to be the club's last ever finals appearance.
Starting 1997 from the bench, McGuinness showed his versatility by playing centre, five-eighth and hooker at different times during the season. From round 10 he scored 9 tries in 10 games. In the next two years, he played in every game for the Magpies. In what were poor seasons for the club, he managed 21 tries. In 1999, he was the club's leading try-scorer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.westsmagpies.com.au/the-archives/first-grade-players/|title=Western Suburbs Magpies First Grade Players|website=Wests Magpies|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=27 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090901/http://www.westsmagpies.com.au/the-archives/first-grade-players/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
With the Western Suburbs forming a joint venture with the Balmain Tigers for the 2000 NRL season, McGuinness was a member of the newly formed Wests Tigers. He played in all 24 games, scoring a personal best 14 tries.
At the start of 2001, McGuinness scored 5 tries in the first three games. His fortune soon changed when he, along with fellow Tiger, Craig Field, was banned by the NRL for six months after testing positive to illegal substances.<ref>{{cite news|format=fee required|publisher=AAP Sports News (Australia)|title=Six months for both Field and McGuinness|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-43017995.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516214153/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-43017995.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-05-16|accessdate=2007-11-24|date=2001-03-23}}</ref> After undergoing counselling, McGuinness returned to the NRL two months before the ban was lifted and was back with the first grade team for round 23 against the Newcastle Knights at Campbelltown Stadium, where he scored a try.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=NRL Stats |title=Wests Tigers def. Newcastle (36-32) |url=http://www.nrlstats.com/archive/match.cfm?MatchID=9992 |accessdate=2007-11-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080731030000/http://www.nrlstats.com/archive/match.cfm?MatchID=9992 |archivedate=31 July 2008 }}</ref>
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' rated McGuinness in the top 34 State of Origin eligible players in 2002, with Roy Masters claiming he was the best player at the Wests Tigers.<ref>{{cite news| work= The Sydney Morning Herald| title=Balance of power| author=Roy Masters| url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=%22kevin+mcguinness%22&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SMH020510VKM6O25NDF4|accessdate=17 December 2015|date=10 May 2002}}</ref> McGuinness set the record for the most tries scored in a match by a Wests Tigers player on 4 August 2002, when he scored 4 tries against Souths.<ref>{{cite book| editor=Middleton, David| title= 2008 Official Rugby League Annual| publisher=News Magazines| year=2009}}</ref>
In 2004, after a season at Manly, McGuinness moved to the Salford City Reds. While at Salford he became a firm fans' favourite, and earned the nickname "The Buddha." He left the Salford City Reds at the end of the 2007 season, and though quite a few players left at the end of that year, he in particular, received a standing ovation, with sections of the crowd chanting "Buddha, Buddha, Buddha," as a homage to the player.
After retiring from the highest level of a football, McGuiness won 2 premierships with Wollongong Wests in the Illawarra competition. In 2011, he joined the Queanbeyan Blues in Canberra's Group 8.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sunday Telegraph (Sydney)|title=Mateship sways Kev to turn Blue|author=Barry Toohey|page=86|date=27 March 2011}}</ref>
==Career highlights== * ''First Grade Debut:'' 1995 – Round 9, Western Suburbs vs Penrith Panthers at Penrith Stadium, 7 May
==Footnotes== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060928192743/http://www.reds.co.uk/squad/mcguinness.html Salford Squad Profile: Kevin McGuinness] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060916105451/http://vibe.com.au/vibe/corporate/celebrity_vibe/showceleb.asp?id=166 Kevin McGuinness Celebrity Vibe Interview]
{{Inaugural Wests Tigers side}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuinness, Kevin}} Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen Category:21st-century Australian sportsmen Category:Australian rugby league players Category:Indigenous Australian rugby league players Category:Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Category:New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players Category:Queanbeyan Blues players Category:Rugby league centres Category:Salford RLFC players Category:Western Suburbs Magpies players Category:Wests Tigers players