Gareth Ellis’s last appearance for Leeds Rhinos, in the engage Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford tomorrow, will be closely scrutinised in Australia, where, from next season, the barnstorming back-row forward will be a token Briton. No Pommie gets an easy ride in the NRL goldfish bowl, as Adrian Morley will testify, but if he makes his name there — as Morley eventually did with Sydney Roosters — then Ellis’s decision will be vindicated.

His move to Wests Tigers was mentioned recently on The Footy Show, the knockabout rugby league programme on Channel Nine in Australia. Ellis was referred to simply as “the big bloke from Leeds”, although it will surely not be too long before his name is recognised. If Ellis, 27, was ignorant of what to expect in the sport’s Sydney hothouse, Morley, his likely England team-mate in the World Cup, which starts on October 25, has set him straight.

“It wasn’t all roses for him at the start,” Ellis said. “He had to work hard to get in the team and be accepted, but his enthusiasm for the Australian game shone through every time he came back to play for Great Britain.

“He was always saying how it’d benefit British players to spend time there. Part of that sunk in with me. It won’t be a picnic, I know that, but I’ll knuckle down, learn the ropes and look to fight my way into the team.”

It would have been easier to remain at an ambitious club at the top of the domestic game than join one in the grittier western suburbs of Sydney who finished in the bottom half of the NRL table. For once, it is no cliché when Ellis talks about going for the challenge of playing in Australia, one backed up by the sacrifice of a pay cut. As Morley, who is at Warrington Wolves, has continued to advocate, more leading British players testing themselves in the NRL would produce a stronger international team.

A season of goodbyes since Ellis confirmed his decision in February culminates in a second successive final against St Helens at Old Trafford. “Normally halfway through the season you’re thinking about the end — not this one,” he said. “It’s flown, probably because it’s been a year of last this and last that. When I signed for Wests, a last Grand Final was on my mind then. It’s the perfect scenario. To win again would be a fantastic way to sign off at Leeds.

“It was a difficult decision to leave. This is a great club and the team is going to be one of the dominant forces for years to come. Knowing I’m not going to be a part of that is hard, but the opportunity to play in Australia was too good to turn down.

“Wests have impressed me with everything they’ve had to offer — the facilities, coaching staff, the squad itself — and I’m excited about my future there.”

The long road from Wakefield Wildcats, where he spent six seasons and became the youngest captain in the Super League, led to Leeds in 2005, the year that the Rhinos lost the Challenge Cup final and the Grand Final. “I allowed my emotions to get the better of me and when I come off the field at Old Trafford against Bradford, I didn’t feel I’d done myself justice,” he said. “I took a lot from that experience.

“The highlight for me was walking out at Old Trafford in 2007, the hairs standing up on the back of your neck, fireworks going off everywhere. Then it’s all on from there. We didn’t really know we’d won until the end. That’s when the emotion kicked in.”

St Helens are justified favourites to reverse last year’s 33-6 hammering by Leeds, but Ellis’s quiet confidence about his last match as a Rhinos player should not be underestimated. “The belief we can win is as strong as ever,” he said. If proved right, his stock in Australia would rise accordingly.

St Helens (from): P Wellens, A Gardner, M Gidley, W Talau, F Meli, L Pryce, S Long, N Fozzard, K Cunningham (captain), J Cayless, L Gilmour, J Wilkin, J Roby, C Flannery, J Graham, B Hargreaves, P Clough, M Fa’asavalu, K Eastmond.

Leeds Rhinos (from): B Webb, S Donald, K Senior, L Smith, D McGuire, R Burrow, K Leuluai, M Diskin, J Peacock, J Jones-Buchanan, G Ellis, K Sinfield (captain), A Lauitiiti, R Bailey, N Scruton, I Kirke, C Ablett, R Hall, L Burgess.