Leeds Rhinos confirm deserving skipper for Featherstone Rovers game

With Matt Prior and Ash Handley both not in the squad for Leeds’ game with Featherstone this afternoon, the Rhinos have confirmed who their captain will be.

In the years since Kevin Sinfield’s retirement – who held the captaincy for 13 seasons – Leeds have gone through six captains with Prior taking on the role after the controversy surrounding Luke Gale last season.

However, Prior will not feature today with coach Richard Agar confirming that he and new signing David Fusitu’a are being saved for the friendly against Hull FC in two weeks.

Meanwhile, Handley, who captained Leeds against Wakefield on Boxing Day, will also be absent with Liam Tindall and Jack Broadbent on the wings instead. This has culminated in Kruise Leeming being awarded the captain’s armband.

To many, Leeming was Leeds’ best player in 2021 and was the only Rhino to feature in the Dream Team. He racked up over 20 try involvements whether they were scores for himself or assists, notched a number of 40/20s and a career first drop goal to secure a famous win at the Magic Weekend.

Going into his third season at the club, he’s certainly proved to be a key player and deserves the armband this afternoon.

On being given the armband, Leeming said: “I’m really looking forward to it. I feel ready to do it, it’s a natural progression for me in my career and I’m really honoured to do it at a club like Leeds. I’ve come a long way from being at Huddersfield making my debut and coming through at Leeds and the knee injury and stuff like that.”