Leeds Rhinos prop Adam Cuthbertson has admitted that West Yorkshire and England increasingly feels like home as he enters the final year of his contract with the Rhinos, before insisting he would still love the opportunity to represent England.
The 32-year-old has been one of the Rhinos’ most successful overseas imports in recent years since arriving from Newcastle in 2015, helping them win two Super League titles and a Challenge Cup.
And the prop told League Express he feels increasingly at home in England as he enters the last year of the four-year contract he initially signed at Headingley.
“Yeah it is home,” said Cuthbertson.
“It was a bit tougher this year, coming back from Australia where the climate was completely different, but in the last couple of weeks I was there I was yearning to get back here and get back into my routine at home – and it is home.
“My home is here, my pets are here and, like I say, to me it’s home. Some Australian friends weren’t happy because I kept referring to Leeds as home!”
Cuthbertson, who was recently appointed as the coach of the Rhinos’ new women’s team, also hinted that he would be open to signing a new deal with Leeds if the club were to offer him one.
“I don’t know if I’d go back (to Australia),” he said. “If everything worked out to plan, I might have never left Manly in the first place.
“I’ve got a few years left in me and the way I still present myself in training, I still love it and I still love being here. I don’t know where I’ll be after this year, but for now I’m just loving Leeds still. The coaching role with the girls has been fantastic too. Hopefully I can put something back into the game over here.”
With an English father, Cuthbertson was almost immediately touted as a potential England international when he arrived in the country in 2015. But he wasn’t selected by Steve McNamara that year.
He has not been picked by Wayne Bennett either, but, when asked if he would still like to play for England, he insists that his passion and desire still burn brightly.
“I would,” he insisted.
“It’s a real desire, but you can only do what you do on the field. If you’re selected, you’re selected. The people who’ve been put into those spots thoroughly deserve to be there and I just do what I can do. But if that call ever comes, I would be 100 per cent behind it and ready to take it.”
