Leeds Rhinos' Richie Myler joins York Knights after shock exit

The 33-year-old arrives at the LNER Community Stadium on a one-year deal from the Rhinos with almost 400 career appearances to his name and over a decade of experience in the sport's top flight.

Capable of playing either at full-back or in the halves, Myler scored six tries in 20 appearances for the Rhinos last term as they missed out on a spot in the end-of-season Play-offs.

He began his career with Widnes Vikings, featuring twice for his hometown club from among the interchanges before sealing a move to Salford Red Devils in 2008.

His first season there resulted in a triple success, Salford claiming the Northern Rail Cup, the League Leaders’ Shield and the Grand Final as they returned to the Betfred Super League following their relegation a year earlier.

A haul of 25 tries in just 32 appearances in his debut season saw Myler both awarded the Co-Operative Player of the Year Award and rewarded with an international call-up for England’s 2008 Rugby League World Cup warm-up match against Wales.

He also represented his country against France the following year, contributing 30 of their 66 points from scrum-half in a 66-12 rout.

Myler went on to score 38 times in 53 appearances for Salford, including against Crusaders on his Super League debut, before signing for Warrington Wolves on a four-year contract.

His move to Wire at the age of 19 was worth a reported £200,000, making him the most expensive teenage signing in rugby league history.

There, he was a part of the side that triumphed over Leeds in the 2012 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley, before being defeated in consecutive Super League Grand Finals to Leeds and Wigan Warriors respectively.

Bringing an end to six seasons at Warrington, Myler then opted to ply his trade in the south of France, spending 2016 and 2017 with Catalans Dragons.

The versatile back then returned to England, signing a three-year contract with Leeds, where he excelled.

He was recalled to the international stage in 2018, featuring in test matches against France and New Zealand before being awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for an outstanding performance at full-back as the Rhinos defeated his former side 17-16 in the 2020 Challenge Cup Final.

However, having scored eight tries and nine goals in eight appearances for England, he switched his allegiance to Ireland in 2022, featuring three times for the Wolfhounds in the 2021 Rugby World Cup.

The 33-year-old remains in the peak years of his career, having registered 17 assists from just 19 appearances in the Super League last year, more than any other Leeds player.

Myler admitted that he had jumped at the chance to join the Knights and is excited to see what the future holds for him at the club.

"I'm delighted!" he enthused. "It's been one of those parts of the season I've just been looking forward to.

"As soon as I started speaking to Clint [Goodchild, chairman] about the opportunity - coming to and working with York, and how exciting that was going to be, I jumped at the chance.

"I can see the vision that they're trying to achieve here, the goal that they want to get to, I could see how I could play a good part in that and I was really excited about coming in and ripping it with the boys and showing them what I've got."

"We've talked a lot about experience around the game, I've played a number of games at some big clubs so I want to win - that's the ambition of the club.

"That's what I see that I can bring to the team - my experience. We've got a young squad full of a lot of talent that if I can nurture and progress the team forward, bringing that professional environment I've been in for a long time.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Knights head coach Andrew Henderson explained that the retirements of both club captain Chris Clarkson and veteran second-rower Danny Kirmond had placed an added impetus on attracting experienced players to the club.

"He's a player that came on late in the day to be honest," he admitted. "He wasn't someone who was on our radar months previously or anything like that, but I just think the timing of it was right.

"With Danny Kirmond officially announcing his retirement, I just felt as a coach we probably needed another senior head to balance the squad a little bit more.

"When I heard that Richie was looking for another opportunity and was potentially available, we held those discussions with him and both myself and Clint were impressed with him, and his energy and his desire to be part of this project, be part of this journey and to help this team progress forward in 2024.

"So I'm really, really pleased and thankful that between Clint and Gary Hetherington at Leeds we were able to facilitate that exit strategy for Richie to join us permanently.

"I know [assistant coach] Ged Corcoran speaks highly of him from having worked with him at Ireland, that was another contributing factor in making this happen.

"I'm really excited to have him on board and I'm looking forward to working with him next year.

As for what Myler can add to his squad, Henderson believes his experience will bring with it a level-headedness and quality attributes to his young squad.

"From watching Richie I know he's a competitor!" he continued. "He has a will to win and again he's got an abundance of experience and he's one at the top level and played there for a large part of his career.

"So I think he's going to bring a lot of quality attributes to this team through again his experience, his leadership, the good habits that he's going to bring around the team to help them progress and develop further, as well as add value on the field in the position he'll be playing in.

"I think it's a really good signing for us as a club. I think it's what we needed, that extra bit of experience in the ranks, and I think the quality that Richie will bring both in and off the field is going to be class."

Myler becomes the Knights' 25th confirmed squad member for the 2024 season alongside Joe Brown, Jesse Dee, AJ Towse, Ata Hingano, Conor Fitzsimmons, Jordan Thompson, James Cunningham, Myles Harrison, Bailey Antrobus, Ronan Michael, Jack Teanby, Ukuma Ta'ai, Pauli Pauli, Harry Price, Brenden Santi, Levi Edwards, Oli Field, Will Dagger, Jimmy Keinhorst, Taylor Pemberton, Nikau Williams and Connor Bailey.