Ethan Hehir determined to ensure Leeds Knights keep the bar set high in NIHL National title defence

If anything, April’s play-off final defeat in a shoot–out to Peterborough Phantoms has made the Knights roster even hungrier going into the 2024-25 campaign.

Once again, Hehir will have a pivotal role to play after agreeing to return for another season, following on from younger brother younger Dylan doing the same at the tail-end of last week.

As far as the older Hehir is concerned, the bar has been set by the Knights and there is no intention of letting the standard slip.

“We’ve still got to push ourselves,” said centreman Hehir, one of just three original Leeds Chiefs’ players from 2019-20 now remaining on the Knights’ roster.

“Everyone is striving to be at the top, but they’ll have to beat us to get there. We can’t just lay-off and think it’s going to be another year where we’ll win it again - we can’t rely on that.

“We’ve got to push hard to be even better ourselves - if other teams want that title off us, we’ve got to make sure we don’t make it easy for them.”

Hehir is the latest player to remain in place from the Knights’ team that retained the regular season crown in 2023-24 - the 13th to do so.

The 22-year-old right-hander, who came through his hometown Billingham Stars junior system, believes having such a settled group at Elland Road once again can only be regarded as a positive.

“I think if you bring a couple of new guys in (each year) it helps challenge the rest of the group as the new guys can only improve us - that is why they have been brought in,” he added.

“There is a togetherness, everyone knows what to expect, there are no surprises and we can just work off that.

“And with a settled line-up, there is a level of expectation within ourselves as a group and everybody is hoing to buy into that.

“I know some people still say that we’re like a new-ish team but when you’ve won back-to-back league titles, for me, that is no longer the case.

“There are expectations in place now, that we need to be up there and that we want to be winning it every year - it’s what we play for every single night, the whole team.

“Everybody is driven in the same way and once you’ve got that, it’s a really good place to be in.”

Like the majority of conversations head coach Ryan Aldridge had with players towards the end of last season, his back and forth with Hehir didn’t take too long.

“The recruitment this summer has been a doddle,” said Aldridge. “Because I knew I wanted the majority of the team back and the boys like it in Leeds and they enjoy being part of that.

"Ethan, much like his brother, is Mr Reliable for us. He can jump up and down on to any line, all the boys love playing with him and he can fill a number of roles us.”