Just a couple of months ago, Kyle Evans was ready to hang up his boots. Now, he is playing in the Super League and showing off the try-scoring prowess that once lit up the Welsh Premiership.
The 30-year-old former Llanelli and Merthyr winger was set to retire back in May after completing a spell with English Championship club Doncaster, who he had joined in 2019. But then, out of the blue, came a call from Rugby League outfit Wakefield Trinity, offering him a trial. That led to a contract until the end of the season and Evans has really been making an impression with the west Yorkshire club.
He made his Super League debut against Wigan last month, marking the occasion with a touchdown, and went on to feature in the Magic Weekend at Newcastle’s St James Park, lining up versus Toulouse Olympique in front of some 36,000 fans.
Read more: WRU reveal radical plan to cut two Welsh Premiership teams but face opposition from within
Now he has gone viral thanks to an 85 metre wonder try in a reserve team fixture against London Broncos. Receiving the ball near his own line, he stepped inside one defender, handed off another and scorched away upfield, showing too much pace for the chasing cover as he raced under the posts.
Wakefield posted a clip of his belting individual effort on Twitter and it has picked up close on 10,000 views there, with fans urging the club to include him in the first team this coming weekend and sign him up on a long-term deal.
A prolific try-scorer throughout his career, the Pyle product was named Welsh Premiership Player of the Season in 2017-18 while with Merthyr. He took a key role in them completing the league and cup double that season, while he scored two tries in the 2019 Welsh Cup final against Cardiff at the Principality Stadium, ahead of his move to Doncaster.
He had previously spent three productive seasons at Llanelli, touching down 27 times in 57 games, earning a call up to regional duty with Scarlets in the LV= Cup back in 2015. The quick-footed wing also had a stint in the English Championship with Birmingham-based Moseley before moving to Merthyr in 2016.
He’s always wanted to try his hand at rugby league, but feared that ship had sailed. So his current situation is very much a dream come true.
“It’s been one of my ambitions to play league. I did have a trial with Leeds Rhinos before lockdown, but Covid stopped all sports, so that opportunity went out of the window. I was actually about to give up rugby three months ago. I was going to give up everything," he revealed.
But that’s when former Great Britain Rugby League international Francis Cummins stepped in.
“Franny was coaching at Doncaster for a season when I was there and he always thought I had been playing the wrong code all my career. He’s the one that got me the trial at Leeds," explained Evans.
“Then, a couple of months ago, I get a text off him asking me to come on trial at Wakefield, where he is working now. I did that and proved myself to them for a contract until the end of the season. I really thought it was all over until this opportunity came about out of nowhere. Franny messaged me at just the right moment.
“It’s what I been working towards, playing in the Super League. To be here now is a real honour for me and I’m over the moon. I’ve sacrificed quite a lot in rugby for so little and this is an absolutely massive opportunity for me.
“I am loving the experience and really enjoying it. Making my debut against Wigan and scoring and then playing in the Magic Weekend at St James’s Park have been the highlights for me so far. I have signed with Wakefield until the end of the season and hopefully I will re-sign with them if things go well.”
It’s an exciting time all round for Evans who has also been called up to the Wales training squad for the Rugby League World Cup which is being staged in England in October and November. Wales are in a pool with Tonga, Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands, playing their group games in Leigh, St Helens and Doncaster.
Read next:
Wales captain Dan Biggar reveals his sadness over personal tragedy
WRU and Welsh regional stalemate sucks the life out of fans just weeks before season
Mike Hall's new beginning after a life at the heart of Welsh rugby and football
Rugby prop's amazing drop goal watched by 1 million as stunned opponents applaud him
