John Kear played on the wing in Castleford's 13–2 defeat by Hull in the 1983 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1983–84 season at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 15 October 1983.

He stepped up to first team coach at Hull in 2005 when predecessor Shaun McRae left to take charge of South Sydney Rabbitohs.

[8] During the 2019 pre-season Kear coached the side to win the revived Yorkshire Cup beating Halifax R.L.F.C.

(26-16) and Dewsbury Rams (20-18) to progress to the final where the Bulls beat Batley Bulldogs (14-12) in front of a crowd of 2,278.

[11] Despite the Challenge Cup run, in the league Kear could only manage to get the Bulls to 6th place in the table, narrowly missing out on the playoffs.

At the start of the 2020 season, Kear nearly pulled off another Challenge Cup upset against Super League opposition Wakefield Trinity, however the Bulls just narrowly lost the match 14–17.

[14] On 16 July 2014 Kear succeeded Iestyn Harris as head coach of Wales, a role he undertook alongside his position at Batley and subsequently at Bradford Bulls.

[19] Kear coached Wales at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup where they lost all three group stage matches.