Pre-season friendlies are often the first chance for fans to enjoy the sight of new signings in their club’s colours.
Today, Wakefield Trinity fans saw Morgan Smith and Renouf Atoni for the first time whilst Derrell Olpherts, formerly of Castleford Tigers, and ex-Wigan Warriors man James McDonnell started for Leeds Rhinos prior to the introduction of forwards Justin Sangare and Leon Ruan from the bench.
All four impressed. Olpherts and Sangare caused plenty of problems, McDonnell scored and Ruan had an assist for Kruise Leeming in the second half.
Ruan, formerly of Doncaster, really impressed despite having a lack of Super League experience.
Naturally, after the game, there was plenty of talk about the young man and he was brought up during Rohan Smith’s post-match press conference.
Smith made some interesting comments on Ruan as he explained he is not a regular Super League player yet and is a project at the club:
“He had the chance to play against some Super League players today. They had an experienced team today which is fantastic for players like Leon against a well credentialed side.
“He’s on a three year deal. If he’s a regular Super League player by the third year that will be a bonus. He’s a project.”
