McNamara joined Hull F.C. from local amateur side Skirlaugh at the age of 17 and he was selected to go on the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. McNamara won caps for Great Britain while at Hull F.C. in 1992 against France, in 1993 against France, won caps for England while at Hull F.C. in 1995 against Wales, and France. He'd spent seven years with Hull FC, before moving to the Bradford Bulls in 1996.
Bradford Bulls
While at the Bradford Bulls in 1996 he also played for England against France. He played for Great Britain while at Bradford Bulls in 1997 against Australia . McNamara played for the Bradford Bulls at in the 1999 Super League Grand Final which was lost to St. Helens. In 1999 he represented England against France. At the Bradford Bulls he was the main goal-kicker and kicked 349 goals.
He coached the Bradford Bulls' Senior Academy to Grand Final success in his first year as a coach at the club. On 20 April 2006 Steve was promoted to head coach of Bradford Bulls following Brian Noble's departure to Wigan Warriors. At the time he was the youngest coach in Britain. In his first season in charge, he guided the Bradford Bulls to the Super League playoffs before the club were knocked out of the grand final eliminator by Hull FC. McNamara was appointed Great Britain assistant coach on 30 April 2007. His coaching career while at the Bradford Bulls contains several unwanted records, such as being the first Bradford Bulls coach in Super League to fail to guide his team to the end of season play-offs and being in charge for the worst losing streak the club has seen in 20 years. Bradford Bulls fans became increasingly frustrated with his team's lacklustre performances since taking over the reins in 2006 and following defeat by Harlequins RL. His time as Bradford Bulls head coach came to an end on 13 July 2010 as the Bradford Bulls board ended his contract by mutual consent and allowed him to become full-time England coach. As of April 2010 he was part-time England coach until the end of the 2010 Super League season. He became full-time England coach afterwards. He won his first game as England coach against France 60–6. This game was played at the Leigh Sporting Village on Saturday 12 June 2010. He coached England to the 2013 Rugby League World Cup semi-final. On 12 December 2013, McNamara was appointed the assistant coach of the 2013 National Rugby League premiers the Sydney Roosters. The Sydney Roosters head coach Trent Robinson was looking for a new assistant coach because his previous assistant Paul Green took up the head coaching position of the North Queensland Cowboys. He joined the New Zealand Warriors for the 2017 season. He coached Catalans to the 2018 Challenge Cup Final victory over the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.
