Leeds Rhinos centre Harry Newman has explained his decision to leave the Super League club after the Headingley side confirmed he will leave at the end of the season.
The England international had just one year left on his contract and that had understandably seen clubs circle to make a move for the centre, whose impending exit has now been announced by the Rhinos.
Harry Newman is set to sign with Perth Bears, something that was reported previously, with the NRL expansion side joining the competition ahead of the 2027 season.
There, Newman will be coached by Mal Meninga with more reports suggesting that Catalans Dragons’ signing Toby Sexton will also be joining the club.
Whilst Perth are yet to confirm the signing of Harry Newman and Leeds haven’t revealed which club he will join, the Rhinos’ sporting director Ian Blease labelled the 25-year-old’s exit as a loss for Super League, indicating he will be making the NRL switch.
Harry Newman speaks following confirmation of Leeds Rhinos’ exit
Newman has now explained the motivations behind that switch with the centre making a brief comment within Leeds’ announcement of his exit.
The England international explained his decision, stating: “This has been a tough decision for me but one I feel I needed to make at this stage of my career.
“Now the decision has been made I can move on with this season and finishing my time at the Rhinos in the best possible way with a big season in 2026 and helping bring silverware back to AMT Headingley.”
In reference to the NRL, Sporting director Blease said: “Having spoken to Harry and his agent earlier this year, they stated to me that they were looking at Harry’s options in the NRL for 2027 and beyond.”
Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur, a man with plenty of NRL experience, spoke about how impressive Harry Newman was during the 2025 season and urged the 25-year-old to carry that form over and impress in his final year at Headingley.
Arthur said: “Harry had a strong season last year and I know he took a great deal of satisfaction from being an ever-present. I am sure he will want to build on that during pre-season and have an even better year in 2026.
“Unfortunately, the nature of professional sport is that these things happen and sometimes, the timing can be hard for people to understand when there is so long to go before the move will take place. However, both ourselves and Harry know the situation and can move on now to make sure everyone has the best possible season next year.”
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NEWS | England centre Harry Newman will leave the club at the conclusion of his current contract at the end of the 2026 Betfred Super League season.
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— Leeds Rhinos (@leedsrhinos) December 1, 2025
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