A Sit Down with Oli Field

Jul 6
2 min read

Oli Field has been one of the back bones of the York Knights’ squad since signing a deal in 2023 after an initial one month loan spell from Leeds Rhinos Academy.

He was part of the team that won the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup at Wembley, and also the squad which finished top of the 2025 Championship. With more than 100 appearances for York now under his belt, he’s very much at home in amber and black, and enjoying having another crack in the Betfred Super League.

With the move into the top flight has come the switch to a full time environment, and Field says that’s brought a lot of positives.

“It’s been a bit of a step up, going from part time to full time,” he says.

“You can get to do more and you get to know the lads through training with them. You’ve got to spend time with them to get that camaraderie.”

Joining the club predominantly as a back-rower, Field switched to the centre last season, scoring 14 tries, but he has returned to the forwards this year. He believes having that versatility has helped him secure a place in the team, amidst a battle for shirts in certain positions.

“Competition brings the best out of you. With playing centre and back row, it helps,” he says.

“Having a better quality of player and better standard to learn from is good for me. Being able to compete and push myself against a better type of player is good for me.

“My sort of plan when I dropped down to the Championship, I just wanted to play. At that point of my career I was at, I just needed to be playing rugby and I wasn’t. So I think it’s worked well.

“I think that’s something that’s really helped and let me push on. I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to play Super League and push myself and prove I could do it.”

With the step up comes the chance to play at some of the best grounds in rugby league, and Field relishes that.

“Everybody grows up wanting to play in the big games, in the big stadiums and with the big crowds. To do it on a weekly basis is pretty cool.

“That big game feeling you get - you do get it in the championship but it's probably 50% of the games. It’s 100% this year.”

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