Leeds Rhinos double Grand Final winner lands new role Down Under for 2026
Mitch Garbutt in action for Leeds Rhinos in 2018
Former Super League stalwart Mitch Garbutt has landed a role as the captain-coach of Bengalla Hunter Valley Group 21 outfit Scone Thoroughbreds for 2026.
Having come through the youth ranks of hometown club Newcastle Knights, Garbutt’s professional first-grade career began with fellow NRL side Melbourne Storm.
Making his first-grade bow for Storm off the bench against the Knights in June 2013, he also featured in the NRL for Brisbane Broncos before moving into the British game with Leeds in 2015.
Garbutt won the first of two Super League Grand Finals in his first year at Headingle, scooping the treble that year, with the League Leaders’ Shield and Challenge Cup also lifted.
Having tasted success at Old Trafford again in 2017, the prop eventually departed the Rhinos at the end of the following season and went on to represent both Hull KR and Toulouse Olympique in the top-flight.
He racked up a total of 121 appearances in the British game across all competitions, with 21 tries scored.
Before heading back Down Under, he also enjoyed stints playing and coaching French Super XIII side Saint-Gaudens Bears.
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Leeds Rhinos double Grand Final winner lands new role Down Under for 2026
Now, at the age of 36, Garbutt’s career continues in the local leagues of Australia.
A Western Suburbs Rosellas junior, his new club are among the most dominant clubs in the Group 21 Rugby League competition.
2025 saw the Thoroughbreds fall short of the Grand Final by a week having been beaten by Greta Branxton Colts in the Preliminary Final.
Before that though, Scone had featured in the last five Grand Finals, completing a four-peat between 2018 and 2023.
That sequence came amid the cancellations of the 2020 and 2021 campaigns, which did not take place due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Thoroughbreds confirmed Garbutt’s arrival via social media, posting on Instagram (@scone_thoroughbreds): “1st official announcement incoming!
“The hugest of welcomes to Mitch, Ruth and the family 💙🐎💙”