Leeds Rhinos star Harry Newman has been spoken about a lot this year.
In many ways, Newman has had one of the toughest years of his career. That is despite the fact 2020 saw him suffer a double leg break and 2022 saw him pick up three hamstring injuries.
In both, Newman missed out on playing major finals and in 2022 he missed out on potential World Cup selection.
But this year was perhaps a frustrating year for Newman. He received widespread criticism when his decision to not pass to Richie Myler essentially cost the Rhinos their chance at Challenge Cup success.
Exacerbating matters was yellow card he picked up against Catalans Dragons towards the end of the season.
Shaun Wane was among those critical of his attitude but injuries has seen Newman on the cusp of his England debut.
A man who knows Leeds inside and out is Barrie McDermott and he believes England selection could benefit the “emotional” Harry Newman.
He told Serious About Rugby League: “Yeah, I think it will be a welcome distraction, let’s put it that way.
“Playing in an international set-up is always an honour but it hasn’t been a straight road for Harry this year as a Rhinos player. They’ve not played well on the field. He’s let his frustration show.
“To get to play in a team full of exceptional players, international standard players, in a Test Series that will really challenge him, one that we’ve got an excellent chance of winning, but one that will really challenge him. We could see the best of Harry.
“We could see the player that we all know he is and he could show that on an international stage, however if he still lets his frustration boil over you’d like to think that the people around him and the coaching staff around him would know how to deal with that.
“He’s an emotional player, I was like that myself at times, very emotional, very passionate and very much playing on the edge. Harry’s like that and as he gets older, as he gets more experienced then he’ll learn how to master and channel that in the right direction.”
