Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur has refused to rule out adding to his squad in the coming months if the right player becomes available.
The Rhinos have landed three new signings ahead of the 2026 Super League season with Danny Levi strengthening the hooker position, Ethan O’Neill arriving from Leigh Leopards and Jeremiah Mata’utia joining to play through the middle.
The club have also extended the stay of Chris Hankinson for another season, while the likes of Jake Connor, Cooper Jenkins and Lachie Miller have all committed to new long-term deals.
As such, it’s fair to say the off-season period has been a successful one for Leeds in the way of recruitment and Arthur is more than pleased with how his squad currently looks, especially given they are approaching round one without any major injuries or absentees.
However, while he does believe in giving youngsters a chance, the Australian admits that Leeds would always be willing to do business to sign the right man.
“We’re very happy with the squad we’ve put together,” Arthur said while on the club’s warm weather training camp in Tenerife. “Bleasey has done a really good job.
“We’re always looking to improve it and I say that all the time, there’s never a ‘we’re not going to add players’ or ‘we are’. If the right player becomes available to strengthen our squad, we’ll always look at it.
“The salary cap at the moment is tight and I think that’s warranted when you look at the senior players we have in our group.
“Every coach hopes that your senior players and your key position players can get through a season unscathed. But you’ve got to have a back up plan if that happens. We’ve got two really exciting halves in Crofty and Jake [Connor] and if one of them were to get injured young Browny [George Brown] showed in our session against Huddersfield, and he’ll get an opportunity in the Boxing Day game, he showed that he’s more than capable with the support around him to step up.
“Sometimes when you get an injury or a player missing, it just provides opportunities for someone else and we always focus on who’s in the team rather than who’s not in the team.”
Leeds Rhinos head coach on his new recruits
On the additions Leeds Rhinos have made this winter, with all three set for a run out against Wakefield Trinity on Boxing Day, Arthur added: “Danny’s an out and out hooker, it’s a tough position to play.
“Guys sometimes get manufactured into hookers but he’s played that his whole career and you can see his level of understanding of what the role is and how good he is at doing his job.
“He’s a very, very good defender and it’s going to take a little bit of time for him just to form better combinations with guys in attack. That’ll come with more training on the field and it will come with some game time, certainly when we get put under pressure. It will be handy to add some competition to Jarrod as well, who did a really good job for us this year.
“Big Jez [Mata’utia] is really good with the ball, he carries the ball strong and he brings another level of physicality to our team.
“Ethan is looking for an opportunity to real start to own a position on the edge in the back-row, he’s got good skills, very athletic and if he can stay injury free, he’s another one that can really start to push and test everyone in the team around competition for spots.”
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