Leeds Rhinos are mourning one of the club’s greatest players and coaches, Syd Hynes, who died overnight, aged 80.

Hynes was in charge of Leeds from 1975 to 1981, guiding them to seven finals with a 100 per cent winning record, including back-to-back Wembley triumphs in 1977 and 1978. As a player, he featured 366 times for his only club, mainly as a centre, scoring 843 points from 158 tries and 188 goals.

Syd Hynes remembered: the Leeds Rhinos great who made unwanted Wembley history

Controversially, he was the first player to be sent off in a Challenge Cup final at Wembley, following an incident involving Leigh’s Alex Murphy in 1971. He lived his final years in Australia, but returned to Leeds several times and kept in close touch with the club, where he was a Hall of Fame member.

Leeds great Syd Hynes breaks through the Wigan defence in the early 1970s. Picture by YPN.

placeholder image — Leeds great Syd Hynes breaks through the Wigan defence in the early 1970s. Picture by YPN.

Hynes, who had been ill for some time and died in hospital in Australia, was the coach who signed current Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington as a player in 1978. “It is a sad day for the club,” Hetherington told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

We have lost a legendary player and a legendary coach as well and someone who served the club with great distinction. Not only the club, but Great Britain as well; he was a member of the last team to go to Australia and win the Ashes.

“He loved his time whenever he came back here. He was so fond of the club and the players, people like David Ward, Roy Dickinson, Graham Eccles, all those who played with him and under him. He was a one-club man and his record as a player and coach was remarkable.”

Rhinos are planning a memorial service for Hynes at AMT Headingley.