Leeds Rhinos recruit opens up on his tough first experiences under Brad Arthur

New overseas Leeds Rhinos recruit Cooper Jenkins has lamented one particular thing about rugby league in the UK after arriving for pre-season.

The front-rower was a Queensland Cup winner last year with Norths Devils but has now joined the Rhinos on a two-year deal ahead of 2025.

He also trained with legendary coach Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins side early in 2023.

A sprinter during his youth, Jenkins still carries his blistering pace, so at six foot four inches tall, he’s a unique option for Brad Arthur in the forwards and brings with him experience on Australia and New South Wales representative duty as a junior.

He’s one of two overseas additions to the Rhinos pack alongside Samoa international Keenan Palasia, who signed this off-season from Gold Coast Titans and has recently returned to the country to start pre-season after playing at Leeds’ Headingley ground in the second Test against England.

That duo, along with Fijian flyer Maika Sivo will experience one very harsh reality of pre-season in Super League, something that Jenkins has already spoken about.

Overseas Leeds Rhinos recruit laments one key thing about rugby league in the UK

Having got a week of pre-season training under his belt, Jenkins spoke with BBC West Yorkshire Sport to talk about something that he’s not so accustomed to given he hails from Newcastle, New South Wales, where average temperatures are regularly hitting upwards of 30 degrees Celsius at this time of year.

“I woke up for training I think Monday or Tuesday and my car was full of snow,” a shocked Jenkins said, labelling it as: “Something a bit different.

“I had to get a wooden spoon out and try and shovel the snow off.”

Snow aside, Jenkins spoke about how week one of pre-season had gone in the cold, noting: “It’s been a tough week with training. We’re being weaned into it but the cold is definitely different when running and doing fitness. It burns your lungs a bit more than the heat. So it’s definitely been good easing into it a lot this week to get the body used to it.”

On pre-season more generally, the prop stated: “It’s tough, it’s something you do enjoy seeing around the boys a lot. You build a lot of good connections just by working real hard together.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the most enjoyable bit about footy but you know you need to do it to have a good season and the better the pre-season is the better the boys go.”