DEBUT:

Forward Joe Butterfield started playing his junior rugby for York Acorn before moving to Castleford Lock Lane, where he lifted the Castleford and District Cup at Under-12s level as well as the BARLA Yorkshire Cup and Division One title. As a junior, he also played Rugby Union for Wetherby and North Dorset before committing to Rugby League and the Rhinos.

Joining the Scholarship at the start of 2022, he was sidelined with a broken tibia-fibula suffered whilst playing on a tour in France with Lock Lane. After only playing for the Rhinos twice before his injury, he returned to action in 2023 for the Scholars and helped Mark Butterill's side to five consecutive wins over Bradford, St Helens, Huddersfield, Wakefield and Warrington. 

As part of a record-breaking 15-player cohort to move from the Scholarship into the Academy for 2024, Butterfield found his feet with seven appearances and three tries as part of a young Academy outfit. A year later, he played a key role in the forward pack that reached both the Academy and Reserves Grand Finals under Chev Walker. The prop featured nine times for the Under-18s, who only lost once during the regular season, and also ran out ten times for the Reserves as they finished top of the table and lifted the Grand Final title against Warrington. Butterfield came off the bench in the finale at AMT Headingley.

Butterfield committed his future to the Rhinos in June 2024 as he agreed a four-year deal that keeps him at the club until 2027.