'I've loved every minute': Departing Leeds Rhinos star Brad Dwyer's farewell message

The 29-year-old hooker spent five seasons at Leeds, scoring 35 tries in 120 competitive appearances, but was not offered a new contract at the end of the 2022 campaign and will join Hull FC next year.

He made a farewell appearance when Rhinos were crushed 74-0 by New Zealand last weekend, having not featured since the final round of the regular season at the start of September.

“People have asked if I’m going to be emotional and I haven’t felt emotional one bit,” he said.

“That’s probably because I knew it was coming to an end and if anything, I am just grateful. I have loved my time here, those are my emotions.

“It is a fast-flowing game and a fast-flowing career and you are on to your next job, but my overriding emotion is just gratitude, to have been here for five years.

“Will I miss the crowd? Obviously, but it is what it is - I am grateful and I have loved every minute of it.”

The game against New Zealand gave Dwyer an opportunity for a proper farewell, but was a tough way to bow out as Rhinos conceded 14 tries to a red-hot Kiwis side.

“It might have been nice against a different team,” Dwyer joked. “But I am happy to have had a final run out.

“It wasn’t ideal, after a long season, but it was nice to go out there with no pressure, play a bit of rugby and see if anything came off. It didn’t, unfortunately, but I’ve had a great five years and it was good to get out there one last time.”

New Zealand are rugby league’s top-ranked team and Dwyer reckons they’ll take some stopping in the World Cup which begins this weekend.

“I think they’ll go far,” he predicted. “It was nice to experience what that level is.”

Dwyer’s next appearance at Headingley will be in black and white. Betfred Super League’s 2023 schedule will be published on November 3 and he admitted: “It’ll be the fixture I look forward to.

“I am not the type of person who has the bit between his teeth to prove himself, I am pretty chilled out, but I’ll look forward to it.

“Hopefully I’ll come up with some big plays and, like I have for the last five years, I will put everything into the new club I am at, as well as respecting the place I’ve been for so long.”

Highlights of Dwyer’s time at Leeds included a golden-point drop goal - the only one-pointer of his career - to beat Castleford Tigers at Headingley in 2019 and he was also a member of Rhinos’ Challenge Cup-winning side the following year.

His dream scenario would have been to go out as a Grand Finalist and he admitted not being selected for any of Rhinos’ play-off ties was “terribly disappointing from a personal perspective”.

But Dwyer stressed: “It’s a team collective. There’s a lot of moving parts go into those decisions.

“Was I disappointed? Certainly, I felt like I had done the role I’d been asked, coming off the bench over the years.

“I don’t think I was dropped because I wasn’t performing that well, but that’s rugby league. We got to a Grand Final and I said to family it was difficult, the period I was going through after the years I’ve had here and how much I’ve put in.

“I felt like personally I deserved that, but if we get to a Grand Final and win it, he [coach Rohan Smith] has made the right decision. I hold no grudges, it is a difficult job to do and I have loved every moment here.”