John Kear is best known as a club coach for his Challenge Cup Final successes with Sheffield Eagles in 1998 and Hull FC in 2005, as well as his success when coaching Wakefield Trinity in the late 2000s. Also head coach at France in 1997 for one game, England in the 2000 World Cup, as well as Paris St Germain, Batley Bulldogs and Bradford Bulls, he was appointed head coach of Wales in 2014 and was given the tough job of rebuilding following an unsuccessful 2013 World Cup campaign. In 2015, he coached Wales to a European Championship win and World Cup qualification in 2016. The 2017 World Cup was an unsuccessful one, but in 2018, he coached Wales to early 2021 World Cup qualification enabling us to also qualify for the 2019 World Nines. As a player, he turned out for Castleford.