Rohan Smith remains coy on Zak Hardaker’s future at Leeds Rhinos

Zak Hardaker recently joined Leeds Rhinos following his exit from Wigan Warriors.

The fullback/centre has played two games for the West Yorkshire club since joining, with his third likely to come in this week’s fixture against Warrington Wolves.

And, head coach Rohan Smith has confirmed that he will be playing at fullback.

When asked about Hardaker’s future beyond 2022, however, Smith remained more coy.

“Zak Hardaker will be playing fullback for us this week,” Smith said.

“It’s a week to week thing for Zak at the moment, but he needs to get some consistency.

“He’s only played two games in six to eight weeks, so we will chat when the time is right.”

Hardaker just about shocked everyone when he signed for Leeds Rhinos – six years after his exit from Headingley.

In that time, the fullback or centre has joined Castleford Tigers and Wigan Warriors before reuniting with the club that gave him his Super League shot over a decade ago.

Hardaker quickly established himself as one of the best defensive fullbacks the league has ever seen, whilst his attacking play came more to the fore at Castleford.

At Wigan, however, the 30-year-old was limited by being at centre and wing for most of his time at the DW Stadium as Adrian Lam and then Matty Peet favoured the likes of Bevan French and Jai Field at fullback.