Strong in the backs, but pack must step up: Leeds Rhinos squad assessed after 2024 roster is confirmed

Following a disappointing eighth-placed finish in Betfred Super League this year, Rhinos have splashed the cash in an attempt to get back among the title contenders and, certainly In terms of the backs, Rhinos’ first-choice lineup looks stronger than this year’s.

Australian full-back Lachie Miller will bring the electric pace Leeds have been lacking and his broken-field running should add a new dimension to their attack. First-choice wingers, David Fusitu’a and Ash Handley are unchanged and both proven performers, if they can avoid injury.

Coach Rohan Smith will be hoping the fitness problems which have dogged centre Harry Newman over the last three years are now behind him and he can kick on from the form he showed for England in their autumn internationals against Samoa.

Nene Macdonald, who could play wing or centre, is a tough act to follow, but Paul Momirovski appears to be an excellent replacement, having played in the NRL for Sydney Roosters in two spells, as well as Wests Tigers, Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers. Rhinos will be his fifth club in seven seasons, including the stint on loan at Melbourne, but he has been in some of Australia’s top set ups and, with 26 tries in 60 top-flight appearances, will add to Leeds’ firepower.

As ever, the halves are key and Leeds will have a new combination in Brodie Croft and Matt Frawley. Leeds paid Salford Red Devils a six-figure fee for Croft and the 2022 Man of Steel is their most exciting signing for years. On the form he showed at his previous club, he is one of the best players in the competition.

Frawley didn’t set Super League alight when he spent the 2019 season with Huddersfield Giants, but is more experienced now. He hasn’t had a huge amount of game time in recent seasons, but featured for Canberra Raiders in this year’s NRL play-offs and will be Rhinos’ organiser, with Croft playing a running role.

Rhinos’ outside-backs haven’t scored enough tries in recent seasons because they lacked service. The new half-back pairing has the potential to change that and the hat-trick by Fusitu’a against Castleford Tigers in the final game of 2023 was a positive sign. There might be a lot of tries in Frawley’s kicks to Fusitu’a on the right-edge.

More of a question mark hangs over Rhinos’ pack, now without big men Zane Tetevano and Sam Walters. Leeds got bullied up front at times this year and the halves will struggle if the pack don’t go forward. To fans’ dismay, they haven’t been given the big, experienced front-rower they were hoping for.

Prop Kieran Hudson, signed from Castleford, has inherited Walters’ number 22 jersey, but is probably in the project bracket. He is highly-rated from his spell at Whitehaven, but has yet to make his Super League debut and spent the whole of 2023 on the casualty list with an Achilles injury.

Ex-Catalans Dragons forward Mickael Goudemand, who could play in the back-row or as a middle, hasn’t attracted the same attention as some of Leeds’ recruits, but is a good player with the potential to prove a very astute addition, if he settles in. His squad number, 18, suggests he’ll be first in line if one of the pack drops out.