Leeds Rhinos and England women’s player Bella Sykes is heading off down under to join Cronulla Sharks’ Harvey Norman Premiership team with the aim of taking her playing career to the next level. 

FOR THOSE involved in the women’s game, combining study, work, training, and playing is commonplace, meaning life can be pretty hectic at times.

But for England star Bella Sykes, who is combining the latter stages of her physical education degree at Leeds Beckett University with her role at the Leeds Rugby Foundation, where she teaches PE in local primary schools, life recently has been even more full on – because, on top of all that, she is also preparing to up sticks and relocate to Australia after signing a deal to play for Cronulla Sharks’ Harvey Norman Premiership team.

However busy 2026 has started for the 21-year-old, she is confident that it will all pay off with the move not only benefitting her, but also the wider women’s game in the longer term.

“I’m leaving on 17th March, so there is a lot going on right now,” admitted Sykes, who is following in the footsteps of players such as Fran Goldthorp, Hollie-Mae Dodd and Georgia Roche in moving to the other side of the world to pursue their riugby league dream.

“I’ve still got quite a lot of work to do, but Leeds Beckett has been really good and is really supportive. They are allowing me early submissions, so as soon as I’ve done my assignments, I can submit them, which is good and means I can try to get ahead of things before the move. But there is also the option to submit whilst I’m out there if there is some work I’ve not got done, Hopefully, I get it all sorted before I go though, because there is a lot of other things to do as well.

“I’ve had an agent for a little while, as I was interested to see what opportunities were out there because I was ready for that next challenge and taking the next step in my career.

“Then, when a chance came up to go to Cronulla, I felt it was something that I just couldn’t turn down. Opportunities like that don’t come around all the time, so I had to grab it with both hands.

“I am still only 21 and have loved my time at Leeds, and Huddersfield before that. I have played for England, and now I am ready for a new challenge and I hope that this move to Australia is going to develop my game a lot more.

“The biggest goal for me, and it has been for a while, is to be part of a full-time environment, so the ideal would be to go on and earn an NRLW contract after this year. The feedback I’ve had from clubs so far is that they want to see how I go over in Australia and that they’ll continue to track my development and take it from there.

“The fact that English clubs are producing players who are going on to play in Australia to have ambitions of playing in the NRLW hopefully shows that the game is doing good things over here. I hope that, one day, it gets to a point where we can match the Australians in all areas of the game.

“I am genuinely really excited for this challenge, and I hope it inspires other people to seek the opportunities that can help fulfil their dreams.

“Georgia Wilson went over and played in the BMD competition for a bit as well, but there are not many English players who’ve gone over there to play. Now that more of us are getting the chance to do that, hopefully it’s showing future players that those opportunities and those pathways are accessible to them, and that might get more of them involved in the game and keep it growing.”

Despite having already told the Rhinos of her plans for 2026, the Super League outfit continued to welcome Sykes to training as they prepared to get their own campaign underway in the Challenge Cup against Leigh Leopards at the start of April.

And for Sykes, who is grateful for the Rhinos’ support, that offered the perfect preparation for what promises to be a very different experience of the game.

“Pre-season over there doesn’t start until the first week in April, so it would have been a long couple of months for me if I were having to train by myself,” continued Sykes, who joined Leeds from Huddersfield in June 2023. 

“It would have also been a long time for me to not be in a club environment, so it’s been great that the Rhinos have been so supportive of me and allowed me to train as normal, which I think will prove to be really beneficial when I get out there.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Leeds and how well they’ve supported me. They are still trying to develop me and are letting me still be part of a team which I really care about.

“I just hope that they can see that the development they’ve given me so far is what’s given me the motivation to want to push on to that next level.

“Playing against Australia (for England) in Las Vegas last year, I know that they like to play a quick style of rugby, which will hopefully suit how I play and prove to be an asset that I can bring to the game, and that the skill level is really high. 

“But Super League is still a really tough competition, so although it’s a bit slower over here, it’s probably more physical, so it’s hard to kind of gauge any sort of comparison between the two leagues because it’s a different style of game.

“I’m just excited for the year ahead and want to develop my game and put myself in the best position possible ahead of the World Cup, if I’m selected.”

Ah yes, the World Cup, a competition Sykes clearly has her eyes on after successfully making her international debut for Stuart Barrow’s side in the 2024 mid-season test against France.

She has been a regular in the squad ever since and admits there was some apprehension over how this move might affect her chances of taking part in this autumn’s tournament.

England face Australia, Samoa and Wales in the Group stages of the World Cup, hoping enough lessons have been learnt since the 90-4 loss to the Jillaroos in Las Vegas to progress to the knock-out phase.

For Sykes, she is hoping it won’t be a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ when it comes to Barrow selecting his final squad later in the year.

“Knowing I wasn’t going to be around for some of the training camps during the year, and not playing over here was something I took into consideration when I made the decision to move  because a World Cup is a really exciting opportunity in something that I’d love to be a part of,” continued Sykes.

“But I will always do what I think is going to make me a better player and what will challenge me, and it just felt like the right time to go and take this opportunity. Hopefully, I will go out there and find some good form.

“I know that Stu always picks on form, so if I’m playing well and I’m putting myself in a good position, then I hope I will be in contention to be selected. And if I do get picked, hopefully playing out there will get me used to the conditions we’ll face and give me a bit of extra knowledge of what we’ll be up against, which will be a big benefit.

“Regardless of where I’m playing, I’d like to think if I’m giving it my all and playing well, then I’ve controlled what I can control and everything else will hopefully take care of itself.

“If not, I think I’ll still be happy knowing that I’ve put myself out there and tried to push myself to be the best that I can be ahead of selection. If I don’t make it, I can come home with my head high knowing I can say I gave it my all.”

Alongside Sykes, fellow England forward Izzy Northrop is also leaving the Rhinos after three years to try her hand in Australia.

Northrop’s own move came about after she spent time travelling in Australia after finishing her PGCE at Newcastle University and an associated teaching role. Having decided to make that move permanent, she was handed an opportunity to play with Norths Devils in the BMD Premiership.

Although there might be hundreds of miles between the friends and former team-mates as they start their new lives, for Sykes, there will still be an element of comfort in knowing that someone close to her will be going through the same emotions.

“I’ve known Izzy for a while because we started playing at Huddersfield together, so we’re really close friends,” added Sykes.

“For visa reasons, she’s had to come back to the UK before she can go back to Australia, so she’s over here at the moment and we’re actually flying out to Sydney together in March.

“It does make me a lot more comfortable knowing that there’s going to be someone else in my position when I get out there – someone from over here and someone that I know.

“We’re going to be going through a lot of similar things in terms of getting used to life in Australia, facing the challenges of trying to make a name for ourselves and trying to earn the respect over there.

“So even though we won’t be near each other, it’s just nice having that person there that I know I can reach out to.”

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 518 (March 2026)