It was only a friendly but Leeds Rhinos’ Boxing Day win over Wakefield Trinity was enough to give Ryan Hall a reminder of why he has returned to Headingley. The outside back has penned a one-year deal with Leeds to return to the club and end his career where it all started.
Hall made 330 appearances for the Rhinos in his first spell with the club before leaving at the end of the 2018 season. He has had stints with Sydney Roosters and Hull KR since, but after six years away, Hall is now preparing for his first campaign back in blue and amber.
As such, the 37-year-old was involved on Thursday as Brad Arthur’s side edged out Wakefield 18-16 in their annual festive challenge. He started the contest as part of a strong line-up before making way for a much younger and inexperienced group to pick up game time.
It was only a friendly of course, with seven weeks to go until the start of the new Super League season but Hall was pleased to get the run out and even happier with the reception he received.
“Good to get back playing in a Leeds shirt again,” Hall told Leeds Rhinos’ official channels. “It wasn’t the best on the lungs when I first started, obviously it was Christmas yesterday so you’ve got to have something you wouldn’t normally have pre-game. I got my second wind after about three minutes but once you get into the swing of things it felt like normal again.
“There were no nerves, I stopped getting nervous before games a long time ago, but it was pretty exciting. As soon as I ran out the South Stand started singing the Ryan Hall song which is pretty cool just to get things underway.
“I think we had the majority of possession, defence is the hardest part of the game and if we make the opposition do more defence than us, obviously that’s going to take it out of their energy systems and in a full game with 17 players that would go a long way.”
As one of the most experienced men in Super League, Hall’s nous and leadership could prove to be useful for Brad Arthur this season and his new teammates have already been picking his brains.
“I don’t want to go round and press on someone and tell them this is what they should be doing but if anyone ever comes to me and asks me anything like that I’m always more than willing to give the best advice I can do,” he added. “A couple of people have come up and asked me some direct questions which is good.
“Just being around the lads I feel like they try and, not copy, but do things I do because I’ll just do what I do. I’ve seen a couple examples of that so far.
“They’ve always produced really good players have Leeds, I was once there… It’s good to see that new batch come on.”
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