Huge problems in Leeds Rhinos squad

Leeds Rhinos were disappointing in 2023 after they made the 2022 Grand Final with a famous win over Wigan Warriors just over a year ago.

The Rhinos squad is now set for huge changes but there are a few problems to solve.

The Nene MacDonald situation has created a fourth position for Rohan Smith and Gary Hetherington to solve.

The club clearly need a six with only Matt Frawley brought in so far to replace Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin so far.

They also will require a prop with Sam Walters and Zane Tetevano both leaving and the club are also looking for a number nine to replace Kruise Leeming.

So the last thing they needed was having to sign a centre but that seems to be the case. The club have four positions to address and just two quota spots.

Speaking after the game against Castleford Tigers, Rohan Smith addressed the squad:

“There’s a lot of spirit, there’s a lot of ability, and there’s a lot of a belief in this group, the group that played, but also the group in and around that are injured and unavailable. So we’ve learned a lot.

“We’ve let ourselves down at various times this year. Some other people have let us down as well and left us short on troops at times, but we’ve kept fronting up and they’ve kept connected and they’ve worked together and they’re good mates. They haven’t turned.

“It’s still been enjoyable to me. Hard, but enjoyable and that’s what life and sport is supposed to be. Last year going to the grand final, it was hard and enjoyable as well. So nothing much shifts for me,

“There’s a lot of belief in that group. There’s a lot of good people. There’s a lot of good things happened in this club, behind the scenes, throughout the year. And there’s foundations being laid.

He also confirmed the club would make around three signings but there will still be problems in the squad to solve:

“Lots of review this week. Staff have got a full week of it, it’ll probably be the hardest week of the season for the staff to debrief and to get forward planning.

“The players will have a debrief later in the week individually, medical and that stuff. That’s important, a really important week for us this week.

“Then there’s a bunch of recruitment that’s going on in the background to get those last few spots signed off and then the planning really starts which to me is a really enjoyable and fun part of the season. No matter how this season finished, getting the next one prepared is something I love to do.”

“There’s probably three spots I reckon, depending if there’s any other movement amongst our roster.”