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Leeds Rhinos’ Zane Tetevano’s “really good” impact behind the scenes revealed

Zane Tetevano’s Leeds career has been a mixed bag.

You can probably trace that all the way back to just his third game for the club in the Challenge Cup against St Helens last year.

That fixture was the closest Leeds have come to beating the Saints since 2018 and for 50 minutes or so, Tetevano was a huge part of that.

He, alongside fellow forwards Mikolaj Oledzki and Matt Prior, were matching the Saints middles until his head high shot on Theo Fages resulted in a red card and a lengthy ban.

Since then, every good run of form has been undercut by suspensions and injuries.

Right now, Tetevano is sitting out games after receiving a five-match ban for a high shoulder charge on former teammate Konrad Hurrell. He was four games left of that ban after which he will have missed nine games through bans this year having picked up three suspensions in 2022.

So, it’s not been all perfect for Tetevano on the field, but away from the spotlight he appears to be having a massive impact.

This is because Leeds’ newest prop Sam Walters – who has recently converted into a middle after starting out as a backrow – has showered him in praise for the work he does on the training field with the younger members of the pack.

Walters has really taken to the front row like a duck to water and is averaging 7.72 metres per carry which is more than the likes of Matty Lees and Leeds trio Mikolaj Oledzki, Matt Prior and even Tetevano.

But it is perhaps Tetevano’s influence which is helping him.

Speaking to the Rhinos YouTube channel, Walters praised Tetevano and assistant coach Jamie Jones-Buchanan for the role they’ve played in his recent development: “Zane is really good with the young boys, especially with us middles. He grabs us before training and does little bits of extras and just tips you up on where he thinks you’re doing good and bad.

“Jonesy’s obviously a massive help to my game. He sits down with me and goes through my clips and feeds back.

“I enjoy it. I’d rather be pointed in the right direction where I need it otherwise I’m never going to improve.”

You can watch the full interview here:

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