Jake Connor, outside backs and Brad Arthur’s pre-season priorities as Leeds Rhinos return to training

Brad Arthur got his first pre-season as Leeds Rhinos boss underway this morning as preparations begin for the 2025 Super League season. The Rhinos underwhelmed last season before eventually finishing eighth in the Super League table, two points short of the play-off pace.

The head coach, who only arrived at Headingley in July, replacing the sacked Rohan Smith, made an impact on the Rhinos, but he couldn’t turn around the club’s fortunes enough to make the season a success. As such, he will be keen to make swift progress over the coming weeks in the hope that he can take Leeds back to the upper echelons of the competition.

New signings Ryan Hall and Jake Connor were pictured in training, with the former returning to the club where he started his career after six years away. They’ll be joined in training by Maika Sivo and Keenan Palasia at a later date, with the pair being in international action this autumn, while Cooper Jenkins has also signed with the club.

With pre-season now up and running, we take a look at some of the biggest tasks facing the Leeds Rhinos head coach over the coming weeks and months.

Build on last season

There’s no doubt about it, Leeds improved under the stewardship of Arthur. The Rhinos won five of their 10 games under the Australian, with notable wins coming over Wigan Warriors and Catalans Dragons and losses coming exclusively to those who finished inside the competition’s top four.

The 38-0 loss at Wigan Warriors was the one anomaly, with Leeds simply being blown away by the eventual champions – not helped by some woeful defending at the Brick Community Stadium. Largely, though, even in the games that Leeds lost, they were competitive and had chances to win.

Arthur knows he is on the right track then and he’ll dedicate a chunk of the pre-season period to fixing up those issues, improving accountability and bringing the team together as a defensive unit.

The head coach kept his players back a week following their defeat at Craven Park in September to give them a taste of what pre-season would be like, but the squad has changed somewhat over the last couple of months and the he’ll be feeling confident about his ability to push this Rhinos side on.

Settle on an outside-back line up

As it stands there is some uncertainty about the outside-back line-up Arthur could favour next season, with the head coach having a number of options at his disposal. Paul Momirovski and David Fusitu’a departed the club in the off-season, leaving holes in the line-up, while Sivo, Hall and Connor have all arrived as options.

What’s clear is that Sivo will be asked to play a major role at the club next year, given the talent and pedigree he possesses. Harry Newman is another who can probably expect to be involved week in, week out, even if he struggled for consistency and form at points of last season.

Arthur will be working to try and bring the best out in him, but where Ash Handley features is one question mark with many suggesting he could be the man to step into the centres to allow Hall to play on the wing. Connor is more than adept at centre, though, and despite playing in the spine for much of his career, he insists he will be happy to play anywhere for Leeds Rhinos next season.

It’s a tricky conundrum and that’s without considering the youngsters down the pecking order who are competing for Arthur’s attention and approval.

Figure out Jake Connor

There can be no denying the talent Connor possesses in his finger tips, with the England international capable of winning games single-handedly on his day. However, those days have been few and far between of late, with the 30-year-old coming in for criticism at points during his final season at Huddersfield Giants.

Getting the best out of him on a regular basis is something that a number of head coaches at Huddersfield and Hull FC before then have failed to do. However, as is the case with most players, much depends on his frame of mind and if Connor is in a good place, more often than not it will transcend into his performances.

Where he plays is up in the air, too. He’s been seen at full-back or in the halves for the last two seasons at the John Smith’s Stadium, while he played in the spine for much of his time in East Yorkshire, too. As such, he provides cover in those positions for Arthur.

Speak to Hull fans, though, and they’ll say that some of Connor’s best performances in black and white came at centre, where he spent the most of his early years with the club.

Continue to work with youngsters

The start of pre-season was marked with the announcement of Tom Nicholson-Watton’s new long-term deal, but the forward is just one of the Leeds Rhinos youngsters that Arthur will be working closely with in the coming months.

Alfie Edgell made 16 appearances last season and will be looking to have a big pre-season campaign while Riley Lumb who caught the eye on a number of occasions in 2024 will also fancy his chances of catching the eye.

Ned McCormack, Ben Littlewood and Max Simpson are among the others vying for Arthur’s approval this year, too, and the head coach will be keen to see them take steps forward.