Zak Hardaker previously asked Leeds Rhinos for more money and was turned down

Zak Hardaker has had his fair share of moves including recently when he and Leeds Rhinos were unable to agree a new contract culminating in his move to Leigh Leopards.

Hardaker has subsequently spoken about contracts in rugby league and wishing he had shorter deals earlier in his career and longer ones at the end as he featured on the Full Game YouTube channel.

The former Leeds fullback revealed that during his first stint at the club he requested more money after winning the Man of Steel.

He said: “Everything happens for a reason but I wish I could flip it on it’s head and gone short contracts when I was younger and back myself and then obviously when older I’d want longer ones.

“I was signing four or five year deals at Leeds and after two years I always signed another four-year deal so I was always stuck.

“I signed in 2014 for four years and then I got Man of Steel in 2015 so I went in asked for a bit more money because I thought I was worth more than what I was getting paid.

“They just basically said ‘look you’ve signed and you’ve got three years left.’

“That’s the flip side to it, the good clubs want the good players on longer terms but that’s the only thing I’d change that when I was younger go with two year deals and back yourself, probably squeeze a bit more money out when I was younger, but yeah it’s been a good journey so far.”

Interestingly, midway through 2016 he joined Penrith Panthers short term before moving on to Castleford Tigers in 2017.