Nene MacDonald reveals Leeds Rhinos man is his mentor “on and off the pitch” and confirms it was a “long journey” to securing Headingley switch

In perhaps the worst kept secret of the off-season Leeds Rhinos finally completed their deal for Leigh Leopards star Nene Macdonald and he’s spoken about the move and what the future holds.

Macdonald was utterly dominant for Leigh last year as they played their last year as Centurions and secured promotion to the Super League where they’ve since been rebranded Leigh Leopards.

Regardless of the name Macdonald represented it was the numbers on the field that mattered and what caused Leeds to pursue him so strongly as he racked up an incredible 27 tries in 27 appearances as his side cruised to promotion.

Speaking on his new team’s Youtube channel he told fans what they could expect from their new Papua New Guinea international centre.

“It’s been a journey to get it done, it’s exciting finally getting the news and getting it all sorted,” Macdonald explained.

Asked about reconnecting with coach Rohan Smith, with whom Macdonald performed well under during his time with Norths Devils in Australia, he had nothing but praise and outlined the season targets.

“He’s been such a good mentor to me on and off the pitch, very excited to be under him again at Leeds. Yeah we (Leigh) had a successful exciting year, good bunch of boys I had there. Hopefully we can emulate it here at Leeds and obviously win a comp, that’s what you do pre season and play all year for.

“It’s exciting seeing the team and what they did last year coming all the way through to make the grand final, unfortunately they didn’t get the win but hopefully this year we can change that.”

Macdonald will bring power into the centres and also ensure that Leeds have a legitimate try-scoring threat in the position with Macdonald telling fans what they can expect.

“I’m just going to bring my best footy, playing off the cuff doing what I can with and without the ball trying to spike something with the team. Just exciting football.”

Macdonald was the last of Leeds’ off-season signings and was given the number four which many great players before him have worn highlighting the trust Rohan Smith puts into his man.