Exclusive: Adam Cuthbertson on his new business and role at York Knights

Adam Cuthbertson may have only just joined Leeds Rhinos for 2015, but it was the season which has been classed as the end of the ‘Golden Generation’ for the West Yorkshire club.

Kevin Sinfield, Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai all left Headingley with a treble under their arms, whilst Cuthbertson was just getting started.

The rampaging forward won two Grand Finals (2015 and 2017) and two Challenge Cups (2015 and 2020) before leaving at the end of 2020 for the York City Knights.

157 appearances later and Cuthbertson had decided on a career change, but he looks back very fondly at his time at Leeds.

“It was great, obviously we had a great bit of success,” Cuthbertson told Serious About Rugby League.

“My first year been 2015 when I really started with a bang and I was quite fortunate to finish on a good note going out as a Challenge Cup winners with Leeds during that crazy year when there were no fans at Wembley Stadium.

“I had some great experiences at Leeds and can’t thank them enough for my time there.”

However, midway through 2020, it became clear that the Rhinos would not offer the Australian another deal and so he started looking elsewhere.

A number of Super League clubs enquired, but a new career change influenced a move to the Championship with the York City Knights.

“I had spoken to a number of clubs during 2020 and I just felt at the time I had a lot going on in life.

“I was starting a business and was in the middle of a masters degree, so the opportunity to pursue a career at York was a great one and right for me.

“Along with starting a business and finishing a degree I also started working full-time which was a handy way to start transitioning from my career as a full-time rugby league career.

“So all the stars aligned when making a decision to step away from the full-time game.”

Going into more detail about what he is doing now, the rampaging Aussie revealed his new off-the-field and revealed his desire to get back into coaching after a brief taste in the women’s game.

“I am currently commercial director at York so I’ve steered away from the performance role to join the new commercial position,” Cuthbertson told Serious About Rugby League.

“However, performance is what I’m passionate about so I’d love to get back into it. I’m quite passionate about coaching, and it’s something I’ve always desired to do at any sort of level.

“I really enjoy coaching and mentoring people, so if that opportunity comes along in the next couple of years then it is something I would love to get involved in.

“But I have a lot of different options which is what I wanted, because I didn’t want to retire and be in a position of not knowing what I was doing next which I know happens to players.

“Hopefully I can get the right balance and stay involved in the game for a long time, because the behind-the-scenes stuff has always interested me even when I was playing.”

Cuthbertson has also gone into the alcohol industry, bringing out his own low calorie lager called ‘LowCal’.

The LowCal website reveals that the drink “was designed and formulated right here in the UK in the city of Leeds by three blokes who wanted to take something traditional and add a modern-day twist to it. “

“I always had a bit of a problem with my weight whilst playing rugby league because I enjoyed a drink at weekends,” Cuthbertson told Serious About Rugby League.

“So I thought why not just make something for people like me? The initiative started in 2016 and finally became a reality in 2020 when we were heading into lockdown.

“It is a 4.2% ABV session lager with just 88 calories in one can. Me and my good friend have been working really hard to kick this off.”