Promising young forward leaves Super League club to take on new challenge

York Knights have announced the permanent signing of promising Leeds Rhinos forward Oli Field on a deal running until the end of the 2025 season.

Field joined York on a one-month loan deal from Leeds at the end of March and has quickly established himself as a regular for the Knights.

The 20-year-old has made five starts, featuring in the Betfred Challenge Cup wins over Sheffield Eagles and Newcastle Thunder as well as the most recent Betfred Championship victory over London Broncos.

The back-rower joins permanently from the Rhinos, having been part of the Betfred Super League side’s youth set-up since 2019, going on to captain the Club’s Under-19s side and represent England at junior level.

Head Coach Andrew Henderson, who is proudly sponsored by Haxby Sports Bar, said: “I’m really pleased to have signed Oli on a permanent deal.

“We identified Oli as a young player with lots of potential and we had the opportunity to bring him in on loan and have a closer look at him and see where he’s at.

“I’ve been very impressed by him. He’s come into the group and fitted in incredibly well. He’s a good person first and foremost with a good attitude about him.

“And his performances have been really solid for us. Given that he’s not had a huge amount of experience at senior level, he’s acquitted himself really well for us in the games that he’s played.

“I’ve seen a lot of really good qualities in Oli and at 20-years-old, he’s got a bright future ahead of him.

“He’s still in his development stage as a player. Physically he’ll only continue to develop and also from a playing point of view, he’s only going to get better with more exposure at this level.

“Hopefully with the coaching team here, we can get the best out of him.”

Field himself added: “When the opportunity came to stay here permanently, until the end of 2025, I jumped at it.

“I’ve loved it here so far. The team and the set-up here is great. I feel like I’ve really settled in here now and hopefully from a personal perspective I kick on now and push towards a big finish at the end of the year.

“For me, the most important thing in my career is playing regularly and Hendo has allowed me to do that here.

“I feel like playing regularly is getting the best out of me as a player and I really want to make the most of the opportunity that I’ve been given.

“There’s a great project in place here and it’s one that I’m really excited to be a part of.

“The Club have got great plans for where they want to go in the future, which was a big part of me wanting to sign here for so long.”