Leeds Rhinos star Jake Connor has aired fears over his side’s trip to Las Vegas and also spoken on his England prospects for this year’s World Cup.
Connor was snubbed from the Ashes squad in contentious fashion with his omission among the biggest talking points leading into the series and after a 3-0 whitewash with England’s spine struggling, his snubbing remained a hot topic.
Then head coach Shaun Wane explained that the Man of Steel trophy ‘doesn’t mean anything’ when justifying his call, something which further fuelled debate and the argument that Wane simply didn’t like Connor as a player.
With Wane since stepping down, there is now hope for Connor that he could well be considered for the World Cup later this year and when asked on The Bench Podcast about those prospects and what he needs to do to earn a spot on the plane to Australia, his answer was simple.
“I’ve got to raise my game more and stay at that level of consistency that I hit last year,” Connor responded with 2025 the first year in many where he was able to hit the top level and do so week in and week out.
“It’s about doing the same again, I feel like I’ve improved this pre-season and I’m in a better position than I was before. I’d never played scrum-half before and it took me about 20 rounds to get the hang of it.”
Leeds Rhinos warned not to let Las Vegas ‘derail’ season
There’s a very real chance that Connor’s Leeds Rhinos coach, Brad Arthur, could be the man in charge of England with Arthur one of a handful of Super League coaches to put his name forward. Another is Leeds’ Las Vegas opponent Willie Peters of Hull KR with both Australians keen on the job.
Connor was also asked about the prospect of going to Las Vegas where Leeds will take on Hull KR in round three and despite excitement, he aired a precautionary tale to the Rhinos based on his experience with Hull FC back in 2018.
“Obviously it’s exciting but in the back of my mind I have that we went to Australia to play Wigan out there,” Connor said, recalling the time when FC were part of the first Super League game outside of Europe, when they lost to Wigan in Wollongong.
“I know this is Vegas so it’s different, but ultimately that derailed our season.”
Despite that warning, he backed the Rhinos to get out there and do the job, praising the club for the work they’ve done already: “It’s something that we’ll never get to do again or experience so we have to enjoy it but we’re going there for two points.
“The club has mapped out a great schedule for us, we’ll get our down time but I’m sure if we win then it will be much more enjoyable.”
Leeds Rhinos will take on Hull KR in round three of Super League with kick-off expected late on Saturday, 28th February.
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