Leeds Rhinos have confirmed Ash Handley as their sole captain for 2026 with the centre now explaining the ‘weird scenario’ it has created, as well as detailing the injury issues that hampered him in 2025 and how he’s recovering from them.
Handley was appointed co-captain of Leeds Rhinos in 2025 alongside Cameron Smith but it’s the centre who takes on the role solely for 2026, with veteran Kallum Watkins now named vice-captain.
Watkins, who returned to Headingely last season, has previously captained Leeds Rhinos and Handley explained how the duo will work together when speaking in a video shared to the club’s YouTube channel.
“It’s a real honour,” he said of the appointment, adding: “I had the privilege of doing it with Cam last year and learning a lot along the way with leadership and how to go about things and incorporate that into, not just obviously how I need to prepare for my own game, but try and help the team as much as I can.
“I’m looking forward to it this year, looking forward to it with Kal as vice-captain. He’s really good to lean on if I need some support in my new role. So really looking forward to it.”
Handley talks captaincy and what he learned from 2025
Handley went on to speak further about having Watkins as his vice-captain, noting that before the senior man left the club for the NRL in 2019, he had been the club’s captain and therefore Handley’s captain.
On that dynamic, Handley said: “We were just speaking about it earlier that when he was last captain, he was my captain, so it’s a bit of a weird scenario now that it’s the other way around.
“We’ve got a lot of leaders in the group anyway, a lot of senior lads that I can bounce off and they can support and help along the way. I think we’ve got a fantastic group this year and I’m looking forward to hopefully doing something special.”
As for how he had taken to the role, having played as captain for long periods in 2025 given Cameron Smith’s injuries, Handley explained how his calm demeanour favoured him, and also led to him blending well with head coach Brad Arthur.
He explained: “I think my cool, calm nature as a person has helped me as a captain, especially with stuff on the field that I need to have a bit of thought in in that split second, like a captains challenge or calming down a few of the other lads on the field.
“I think it sort of works. I’ve sort of got a different personality to Brad as well. He’s quite hot and fiery and I think we work together well as well.”
Leeds Rhinos star returns to full training nine weeks post-op
Whilst Cameron Smith missed lots of time due to injury, he wasn’t alone with Handley missing a few games late in the year as his injury issues stacked up and that was something else he commented on when speaking on the club’s YouTube channel as the Rhinos rounded out their warm weather training camp.
Handley admitted: “The hernias were holding me back, I was having injections to sort of settle it down, I had one on my left side and it went fantastic… Once I had an injection on the left side, it must have just made the right side feel even worse, so my right side were unbearable pretty much.
“I went in for an injection on my right side, which was only maybe four weeks after the left, and then because I’d had these injections, it almost numbed the feeling, I think that didn’t help with everything else that was going on.”
Consequent to the injury issues, Handley didn’t play in the final four rounds of the regular season but did make it back for the play-offs, and was even prepared to play through the pain before being stood down by Shaun Wane.
On that, he said: “I was even going to try and play for England, and try and get through, but I wasn’t able to. I spoke to Waney in, he said, ‘Look, I don’t want to risk you, I don’t want to put you in a position where you’re not going to be full strength, especially when we’re playing the Aussies’, so I just ended up getting my surgery.”
He’s now nine weeks post surgery and only just returning to the training field properly, explaining: “I had my first training session with the lads this week on camp, which was pretty tough. It was just a standard skills session, but the biggest week I’ve had since I’ve been injured, so I felt it a little bit in the body, but I’m looking forward to just getting back now, and being in with the lads.”
Handley won’t be part of the Leeds Rhinos’ side who play Wakefield Trinity on Boxing Day with the centre continuing his journey to return to full fitness.
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