Amy Hardcastle (born 4 March 1989) is an English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

player who plays at for St Helens in the Betfred Women's Super League.

Playing career

Bradford Bulls

Born in

Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woo ...

, Hardcastle first played rugby league for Siddal before taking time away from the game after having her daughter. On her return Siddal had disbanded their women's team so Hardcastle joined

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

. Over the next 10 years Hardcastle experienced considerable success as Bradford won the league title twice and the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

once.

St Helens

In 2020 Hardcastle left Bradford to join St Helens but did not make her first appearance for St Helens until 2021 as the 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In her first full season with St Helens, Hardcastle scored 23 tries in just 13 appearances. When the NRL named its women's team of the decade in 2020, Hardcastle was the only English player to feature in the team. In November 2023, it was announced that Hardcastle had been appointed as the Women's and Girls Rugby League Development Officer at

Halifax Panthers The Halifax Panthers are a professional rugby league club in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They play home games at The Shay and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Halifax Panthers have won the League Ch ...

St Helens (rejoin)

On 8 November 2024 it was announced that Hardcastle had re-signed for St Helens

Representative

Hardcastle was first selected for the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

in 2009 and played in both the 2013 and 2017 World Cup competitions. Hardcastle has made 19 appearances for the national side, scoring 18 tries. Hardcastle has also represented

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in Origin Series matches against Lancashire.

Personal life

Away from rugby league, Hardcastle is a

healthcare assistant Unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) are paraprofessionals who assist individuals with physical disabilities, mental impairments, and other health care needs with their activities of daily living (ADLs). UAPs also provide bedside care—includi ...

in the

accident & emergency An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

department at the Royal Halifax Infirmary.

References

External links

Leeds Rhinos profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardcastle, Amy 1989 births Living people Bradford Bulls Women players England women's national rugby league team players English female rugby league players Leeds Rhinos Women players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Halifax, West Yorkshire St Helens Women RLFC players Yorkshire Women rugby league team players 21st-century English sportswomen