New skipper Cameron Smith says Rhinos' preparations for the new season are well ahead of where they were 12 months ago.
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00:00 Was that going to make any practical difference to you?
00:02 No, no difference mate.
00:04 I'm honoured and privileged to have that CX for my name,
00:07 but nothing changes for me from the personal game.
00:11 I'll just keep doing my bit for the team and encourage other people to lead.
00:16 You were effectively doing the job last year, weren't you, for most of the season?
00:21 Yeah, unofficially, just doing my role within the team.
00:26 There's also other leaders in the team who were doing the same role as me last year,
00:30 I was just doing a toss really.
00:32 But now, officially, nothing changes.
00:37 I don't think into it too much and just keep doing my bit.
00:42 A lot of this offfield has been doing this sort of media stuff.
00:45 Yeah, of course, media stuff. You get a lot of promos that I didn't have before.
00:49 Things like that, that's the only difference.
00:52 Do you enjoy that side of things?
00:55 Yeah, I don't mind it.
00:56 Like I say, it's part of the job, you can't avoid it.
00:59 Any chance you get to give back, I'm there to do it.
01:03 How are things shaping up?
01:05 Yeah, really good. Really exciting.
01:07 I think it would be good for us to have a hit out on Boxing Day and get some collision.
01:12 Get used to not just training it any day, but intensity all the time,
01:15 because obviously it's different to playing.
01:17 I think that's just what we needed.
01:19 I'm really excited, we've got everybody here now who needs to be here.
01:23 I think the next two weeks or so is about getting the new boys a stronger connection and go from there.
01:32 How are they setting in? They all seem to be good lads.
01:36 Yeah, really good.
01:37 Kicking them off?
01:38 Yeah, really good.
01:39 Obviously, I haven't seen too much.
01:40 The boys that I've played in the Super League, I've seen a lot of,
01:43 but the guys that have come away from the NRL, I haven't seen too much footy of them, obviously, because I've played.
01:50 But those people, they're absolutely spot on.
01:53 The conversation that we're having upstairs and the conversation that we're having on the field
01:56 is probably nothing that I've been used to before, so that's really exciting.
02:01 Are you excited about what this squad can achieve?
02:04 It looks to be a lot of talent.
02:06 Yeah, there's a lot of talent and the challenge is to be consistent and bring the best out of each other.
02:12 So that's what I'm going to try.
02:14 Personally, I don't like looking too far and I'm just looking forward to that.
02:23 Do you think it'll look good?
02:25 It's time last year with the early camp, you scored and everybody together.
02:30 Yeah, definitely, because we've come in a lot earlier.
02:33 We haven't had anybody play international, so we've had all the boys together from day one of pre-season.
02:40 So we've had plenty of time to do what we needed to do.
02:43 You missed the last game of last season, you were fully fit and that was nothing serious?
02:47 Yeah, no, nothing serious. I just needed a drain in.
02:52 I just didn't need to play and I wanted to get in and do what I needed to do.
02:59 So I'll be right for week one of pre-season.