Zak Hardaker is back at Leeds but not only is he back at the club, he may also be back to his best for the Rhinos.
He made the controversial switch back to Leeds, a club he left under a cloud in 2016, after a release from Wigan and has returned to his preferred fullback role where he won the Man of Steel from in 2015 as Leeds won the treble.
That year the likes of Jamie Peacock described him as the best defensive fullback on the planet whilst possibly Super League’s greatest fullback Paul Wellens said he was “the best fullback in the competition.”
Seven years on from those heady heights, Hardaker again showed how good he is in the role of fullback with a try and an assist and plenty of other important contributions with ball in hand.
However, it was his defence that caught the eye of Jon Wells.
Hardaker has always been an exceptional fullback especially in his days at Leeds, and as Wells reviewed the game for Sky Sports, he noted Hardaker’s defence and recalled a conversation he had with the Leeds man in his first stint at the club about how he chooses to defend breaks proceeding to use this as the basis for a breakdown of Hardaker’s defence for Matty Ashton’s try.
Well said: “The final piece of footage I’m going to show you is the most impressive for me. I remember standing at the touch screen seven years ago when he was a Leeds player before and discussing defensive play and I’m going to revisit it here.
“There’s a break made from an offload to Matty Ashton who goes into space.
“What Zak Hardaker doesn’t do is make a B line or try and close that gap down, he buys himself time.
“He said to me, and I remember because I thought about it for weeks afterwards, he wants to give Matty Ashton more time than he needs, put doubts in his mind, give him more options, give him more choices. He actually retreats allowing players to come back which puts doubt in his mind.”
This shows that Hardaker may be in a league of his own when it comes to defence as a fullback and therefore perhaps the best number one in the league in the defensive department. The likes of Sam Tomkins, Jai Field, Bevan French and Jake Connor all grab headlines with ball in hand, but Hardaker’s contribution in defence here is what won him the Man of Steel in 2015.
Leeds fans will be hoping he can keep it up for the rest of the season.