Ollie Leatherbarrow

Newcastle Red Bulls back-row Ollie Leatherbarrow was born on 8 April 2002 and is in his early-twenties career window — past the academy phase and into the years where senior selection competes with continued physical development. His position as a flanker places him in the engine-room of phase-defence and breakdown work, where the demands are heavy contact volume, ruck competition, and short-range carries to set up wider attacking shape. The Newcastle pack's identity has historically been built on hard-working forwards rather than ball-playing back-rowers, and Leatherbarrow's role fits that template. At club level his trajectory is measured in incremental gains: appearance counts across a Premiership season, the ability to absorb the workload, and consistency of selection inside a back-row depth chart that competes against international call-ups and squad rotation. The flanker position rewards durability above flair, and Leatherbarrow's developmental phase is shaped by the cumulative experience that comes from week-on-week senior involvement.