Leeds Rhinos’ latest generation of homegrown talent are beginning to make their mark in the Women’s Super League. Evie Cousins tells Rugby League World about growing up together, chasing silverware and her own breakthrough onto the international stage.

SIR Kevin Sinfield, Rob Burrow, Danny McGuire, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Carl Ablett… the list goes on. The highly regarded Golden Generation of Leeds Rhinos Academy products that led the Headingley outfit to numerous titles and Super League domination in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

It is unlikely the game will see the likes of such a dominant, homegrown group again – even though the current crop of Rhinos stars are in their strongest position in many years to emerge victorious at Old Trafford in early October.

But another group of players around the club are threatening something similar.

The names on this list are perhaps a little less well known to some, but between them, the likes of Evie Cousins, Ebony Stead, Connie Boyd and three Rubys, Enright, Walker and Bruce are looking to create their own similar legacy and ultimately bring Women’s Super League success back to Headingley.

Since their last trophy in 2022, when they enjoyed Grand Final success with a 12-4 win over York, the Rhinos have endured something of a transitional phase.

Experienced players such as Hannah Butcher, Sophie Robinson, Courtney Winfield-Hill and Dannielle Anderson have moved on, while England internationals Amy Hardcastle and Shona Hoyle-Holdsworth have been and gone.

But far from panicking, head coach Lois Forsell stuck with the ethos that has served the wider club so well in the past, and promoted from within – rewarding the leading academy players with first-team opportunities.

The result now is that the Rhinos and Forsell have a team that is more than capable of mounting a real challenge to Wigan Warriors’ bid to retain their title.

“Since being in the first team, I’ve never won a trophy, so personally that is a major goal of mine, and the team is pushing very hard to do that,” Cousins told Rugby League World.

“We’ve all got the mentality that this is the year for us to do it.

“We’re all really close, we’ve all got the same goals, and we all play the same style of rugby, and this is the strongest year where we’ve felt that we can go and win a trophy. That is still our biggest goal.

“A lot of our experienced players have moved on over the last few years, and we’ve brought up lots of academy players into the first team, and that has been really good for us.

“We’ve got a fresh perspective, and a lot of us have played together at academy level as well, so we’ve got those previous links and know each other really well.

“We’ve gelled together as a side really well, and we all trust each other a lot more than maybe we have at times in the past. We know that we’ve got each other’s backs and we’re just looking forward to showing what we can do best and excel as a squad.

“A lot of girls have been saying that this is feeling like the best year they’ve had at the club, so now it’s time for everyone to kick on, step up and make themselves known.

“It does feel like we’re on a similar journey to Wigan’s over the past couple of years. They have had all the younger players come up from the academy together, and they got all the glory last year by playing the best rugby we’ve seen in Super League.

“We do feel though that we are now where Wigan were a year or so ago, and hopefully we can stay on that same path.

“We have really made getting back to that Grand Final a point to focus on before we think about the World Cup and England.

“For a lot of girls that is always going to be in the back of their minds, but we’ve got a job to do first – get into the final and win it.”

With Super League now in its final, and most competitive, stages, Leeds remain firmly in the hunt for a Grand Final spot.

Making this year’s showpiece finale will be an even harder task than in previous seasons following a major shake-up to how the league is structured.

Whereas previously a top-four finish guaranteed a semi-final spot, the mid-season split to the Super Four and the Shield means that whoever finishes top progresses straight to the Grand Final, with second and third going head-to-head for the other spot. Finishing fourth gets you nothing this year.

After scoring six tries in the Rhinos’ two Challenge Cup group games against Leigh Leopards and London Broncos, Cousins then sat out the latter stages of that competition as well as the first six rounds of Super League with a hamstring injury.

She made her first league appearance of the season against Huddersfield, and has remained in the side since, with the 20-year-old aware she has returned to action in time for an exciting period of the campaign.

“I was just getting frustrated not being back from my injury sooner, but coming back into the side at such a competitive stage in the season is exciting,” added Cousins.

“Tough games week in, week out is what everyone wants to be a part of, and I think it’ll bring out the best in everyone and make for a really good competition.

“If you’re racking up 70 points in games, it’s good for our attacking play, but you can’t really put into practice what you’re working on in defence.

“Games like that don’t replicate what we get against a team like Wigan, York and Saints, so it’ll be good to play those games week in, week out now.

“Our mindset hasn’t changed this year, because we have always wanted to go through the season, finish top and win things. But this year there is a bit more incentive behind it, and a reminder of why we’re working so hard and where we want to be.

“Previously, with finishing in the top four getting you into the semis, it’s never been on our minds not to be in a semi-final.

“But with fourth place not getting anything now, there is really a focus on making sure we hammer home our goals and finish in that top three.

“It’s narrowed our focus down, and it’s going to be an exciting end to the season.”

That return to action sparked a whirlwind couple of weeks for Cousins, who within less than 24 hours of that game finishing, had received the call every player in any sport wants to get – the one to tell them they are about to represent their country.

After just three games all year, Cousins had proven her worth enough to get the nod from England coach Stuart Barrow, who selected her in the 19-player squad to travel to France for a mid-season Test match.

Cousins was one of five players in that squad handed their debut caps in the 38-4 win, and while it has whetted her appetite for more of the same – especially with a World Cup at the end of the year – her focus remains on all things Leeds Rhinos, knowing that strong performances there will be what earns her a recall come the autumn.

“I’ve been training with England for a while so making my debut in France had been a realistic goal for me,” she added.

“But I was getting frustrated at being out and because it was a recurring injury we had to rehab it for a bit longer than we would normally have done.

“I was just desperate to get back, and I really wanted to be back before the split of the season because England was still in the back of my mind.

“So it felt good to get a chunk of time, and a couple of tries, against Huddersfield.

“Then literally the next day I got the call from Stuart to say I was in the squad for France. I wasn’t expecting it at all, but it was the best surprise ever.

“Going into that Huddersfield game and the split, England wasn’t at the forefront of my mind; I just wanted to focus on my club game and getting back fully fit.

“So when I did get the call, it filled me with a lot of confidence going into the second half of the season.

“My biggest message to myself this year was just to back myself more and have confidence in myself. In the past I have doubted myself, but playing for England has given me a real boost, and I know what level I can play at now.

“Being out there for England was great. We’d only had one or two training sessions together before the game so it was challenging in terms of gelling together before we actually played.

“Facing different weather, travelling and different rules was a new aspect for us all, but that will replicate what we’ll face later in the year, so that was a really good experience.

“For every girl in the England set-up, and even in the wider set-up, the goal is to be on that plane at the end of the year, but for me I am just focusing on physically getting better and technically getting better, and just being better for the team.

“I’ve just got to focus on being the best version of myself for Leeds Rhinos, and whatever comes off the back of that comes.”

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 524 (September 2026)