End of an era as two big names exit Leeds Rhinos

Forwards Stevie Ward and Adam Cuthbertson were both members of Rhinos’ treble-winning squad five years ago and teammates when Leeds won the Super League title in 2017, but coronavirus and a curtailed end to the Betfred Super League campaign meant their departures slipped under the radar.

Ward’s contract expired at the end of last month and he has not been offered a new deal after a planned move to Toronto Wolfpack fell through.

The 27-year-old back-rower will be remembered as one of the most talented players produced by Rhinos’ academy, but one whose career at his home city club was derailed by bad luck with injuries.

Ward made his debut for Rhinos, aged 18, in March, 2012 and was the club’s longest-serving player.

Having played – at stand-off – in a Wembley defeat just five months after his debut, he was a Grand Final winner at the end of his first season, when he made 21 appearances, but a shoulder injury suffered at Old Trafford was an omen of what was to come.

His 2013 campaign was ended by shoulder damage in April and, though he played 22 times, he was again hit by injury the following year, missing out of a place in Rhinos’ Challenge Cup winning side.

The 2015 season was Ward’s best for Rhinos, despite a painful end.

He made a career-best 28 appearances and featured in the record-breaking Wembley demolition of Hull KR, but an horrific knee injury in the final game of the regular season, when Rhinos clinched the league leaders’ shield with a win at Huddersfield Giants, kept him out of Leeds’ Grand Final triumph and on the sidelines for the next 12 months.

Ward was awarded the number 13 jersey and a five-year contract at the start of the 2016 campaign and was runner-up in Leeds’ player of the year voting the following season, when he played 26 times.

It seemed the injury jinx had struck again when he dislocated a shoulder in Leeds’ play-offs semi-final victory against Hull, but – remarkably – he recovered to play the full 80 minutes of the Grand Final defeat of Castleford Tigers just eight days later.

Ward featured 17 times in 2018, but managed only six last year, because of a knee injury sustained in February.

He went into this year with high hopes and expectations – and as Rhinos’ new captain – but concussion kept him out of all but the opening game of the season. In total, Ward scored 23 tries in 135 matches for Rhinos.

An injury also ended Adam Cuthbertson’s six-season Leeds career, but in very different circumstances.

The 35-year-old Australian forward, who has joined York City Knights, made his final Rhinos appearance in October’s Coral Challenge Cup final win over Salford Red Devils, when he suffered a fractured shoulder.

Cuthbertson joined Rhinos from Newcastle Knights ahead of the 2015 season and was a Man of Steel nominee that year after setting a new Super League record for offloads.

That was the peak of his Leeds career, though he scored an impressive 13 tries in 35 games two years later, when he won his second Super League ring.

In total, he touched down 35 times in 157 matches for Rhinos.

Cuthbertson was also the first coach of Leeds’ women’s side.

In his two years in charge, Rhinos reached every available final, winning back-to-back Challenge Cups, a league leaders’ shield and Super League title.

Outside-back Rhys Evans has returned to his previous club Bradford Bulls after scoring one try in five games during his only season with Leeds.

Support the YEP and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news and the latest on Leeds United, With a digital subscription, you see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click HERE to subscribe.