Women's Super League legend Amy Hardcastle on life at Leeds Rhinos, new role and big clash v York Valkyrie

The England star - and one of Super League’s most influential players - is poised to make her Rhinos debut, in a new role.

Having made her name at centre, with Bradford Bulls and St Helens, Hardcastle is expected to feature mainly in the pack for Leeds.

“I just want to play rugby and I want to enjoy it,” she said ahead of this weekend’s Headingley showdown with 2022 Betfred Women’s Super League leaders York (3.30pm).

“I’ll be moving between the two. I will be playing second-row, but at times I might need to go to centre.

“It is adding a lot more value to my game. When we played Warrington [in pre-season] it was nice being in that forward position, to be able to get your hands on the ball a bit more and that initial contact in defence.

“To be able to experience that and be in the middle of it was nice, I came away feeling like I’d done quite a bit of work.

“I am really looking forward to it, it is not going to be easy - people might say it’s only one in, but there’s a lot of hard work goes into the second-row.”

Hardcastle has played at Headingley several times, most recently at last year’s World Cup, but reckons treading the turf for the first time in Rhinos colours will be special.

“I have had a lot of joy there with Saints and England and really loved the pitch and the stadium,” she said.

“It’s just another level, I am really looking forward to putting that Leeds shirt on and stepping out of the tunnel.

“The club have put a special day on for families, making it inclusive and trying to get everyone there for our game so we can showcase probably one of the biggest games in Women’s Super League this season.”

The 34-year-old was a member of Saints’ treble-winning side in 2021 and is enjoying her change of surroundings.

“It’s totally different, the girls are different and the club is different,” she said. “For me, the facilities are phenomenal and I feel privileged I get to use them.

“There’s no umming or ahhing, if you go down to [Rhinos’ training base at] Kirkstall it’s always open to use, regardless of who’s training.

“That’s huge, especially for myself, having been in the game a long time. The inclusivity is great and so is what the club are doing for us as players.”

She added: “[On Thursday] we had a team run on the pitch, which was brilliant, then we all went for a feed, which they’d put on for us.

“It’s great, little things like that make a huge difference to us. It is feeling valued, those little things make all the hard work and sacrifice we do to play worthwhile so it is great, I love it.”

Assessing Rhinos’ squad, Hardcastle said: “I have played against a few of them, but playing alongside them you get to know them more and their qualities.

“We have so much depth; there’s some coming up from the younger ranks who are pushing and they are very good.

“It is great to see them coming through and being able to support them in that step up. Playing around players who’ve been around the game a bit longer, they are buying into that and feeding off it and they are fitting into the squad very well.”