{"id":405678,"date":"2026-01-11T06:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T06:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/405678\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T06:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T06:27:15","slug":"leeds-star-set-for-nrl-move-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/405678\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds star set for NRL move – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leeds Rhinos<\/a> back-rower James McDonnell<\/a> is set to depart the club at the end of the season, with the Super League<\/a> standout locked in for a move to the NRL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McDonnell, who turns 26 this week, is only contracted to Leeds through the end of the current campaign after signing a short-term extension last April.<\/p>\n

Despite efforts from the Rhinos to retain him long-term, the back-rower has opted to take up an opportunity in Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While his exact destination is yet to be confirmed, McDonnell will link up with former Leeds teammate Harry Newman<\/a> in the NRL<\/a>, who has already signed a two-year deal with the Perth Bears<\/a> from 2027, signalling a growing English presence at the NRL<\/a> newcomers.<\/p>\n

The back-rower was named in the most recent Super League<\/a> Dream Team and enjoyed a career-best season in 2025, crossing for nine tries and cementing himself as one of the competition’s most reliable edge forwards.<\/p>\n

Leeds sporting director Ian Blease confirmed the club had been aware of McDonnell’s ambitions, praising his transparency throughout negotiations.<\/p>\n

“We have both agreed to make a decision as early as possible so we can plan for 2027,” Blease said.<\/p>\n

“James has been upfront from the earliest opportunity, and I know he will give his all for the club this season before moving on.”<\/p>\n

While McDonnell’s departure follows recent exits including Newman and Morgan Gannon<\/a>, Leeds coach Brad Arthur<\/a> remains confident the club can absorb the blow.<\/p>\n

“For those in the squad, they know there is a spot up for grabs next year, and that should drive them on,” Arthur said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leeds Rhinos back-rower James McDonnell is set to depart the club at the end of the season, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-405678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}