Rohan Smith very confident in one area of Leeds Rhinos squad following off-season signings

Leeds Rhinos are ready to go for the 2023 Betfred Super League season as they plough ahead with pre-season.

On Friday they confirmed their 2023 squad numbers after completing their business ahead of the 2023 season with the signing of Leigh Leopards centre Nene MacDonald who coach Rohan Smith has worked with before.

Speaking on the Rhinos’ YouTube channel, Smith was very excited about MacDonald’s potential.

“Nene has a real appetite to carry the ball, he is a real handful and he can offload and is a finisher. He can score tries and he is really maturing,” Smith said.

“He has played a lot of NRL but hasn’t really found a home. I hope he can find a home here and I think our squad will help that.

“He’s really enjoying it, living in England, and that’s a good start. There’s none of that adjustment period which for some players it does take some adjusting.”

With the arrival of MacDonald, Smith is confident the Rhinos have a strong set of outside backs:

“Now, we feel like we have a real strong outside back unit.”

Boosting the Rhinos squad is the versatility of some players and Smith believes one young man could play a new position in 2023.

“Gannon is going really well, he has been playing a bit of six in training and that has been going well,” Smith said.

“He is having the ball in his hands a lot which has seen him bring out some really nice footy. We expect a lot and he will step forward again this year. We have got a really good squad with depth in every position.

“I think he will get game time at 6. It is going to take a squad to compete this season and achieve what we want this season.”