One Leeds Rhinos star has spoken about his journey to Super League and which rival club he spoke with before opting to move to Headingley.
Leeds Rhinos have recruited plenty of overseas stars in the past two recruitment windows with three players arriving from Down Under ahead of 2025 and a further three arriving prior to 2024.
Paul Momirovski, Matt Frawley and Lachie Miller all signed for the Rhinos ahead of the 2024 season and Miller has now explained how his switch to Leeds came about, whilst also confirming he held talks with another Super League side.
Miller signed from Newcastle Knights but his journey into rugby league was a different one with the speedy full-back formerly playing Rugby Sevens, even representing Australia at the Tokyo Olympics.
He’d make the move to the NRL in 2022, signing with Cronulla Sharks, making a total of 19 NRL appearances before joining Leeds Rhinos – a move he has recently described on the ‘The Lot Pod’ YouTube channel.
Leeds Rhinos full-back Lachie Miller reveals Super League side he spoke with prior to Headingley switch
Credit: John Clifton/SWpix.com
Asked about his switch to Headingley, Miller credited former head coach Rohan Smith as well as the club’s reputation for key reasons why he made the move.
He explained: “The opportunity came up, and it came up to obviously Leeds, where you hear so much about that golden era.
“If you don’t watch a heap of Super League back home, Leeds are the team that you hear about type thing or it definitely was.
“Then the chat I had with Rohan was a good chat and then my wife wanted a change and we just thought it was just the best thing for us because just the way that things panned out in Newcastle just didn’t work out.”
Miller, who has recently been confirmed as the Rhinos’ number one for 2025, would play 12 games at Newcastle during the 2023 season but left one year into his three-year deal, confirming that discussions with Rohan Smith helped sell him on Leeds Rhinos.
The 30-year-0ld said “As soon as I had the chat (with Rohan) to be honest I was like, I want to go. I just had to convince my wife and she was like, no let’s go. So it was a really easy decision and then as I said this turned out to be a good decision.”
He also explained that other Super League clubs did have conversations with him, namely Hull FC, who have since signed Jordan Rapana to play full-back for the 2025 season.
“It was just sort of chat,” Miller explained, adding: “I spoke to Hull FC and there was just a little bit of chat but nothing serious.”
