YEP rugby league writer Peter Smith reveals whether there'll be significant changes to Leeds Rhinos' squad for next season.
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00:00So we're three games away from the end of the season and the big question is
00:05what's happening with Leeds Rhinos recruitment for 2025? What we know so far
00:11is that one player is coming in Ryan Hall who's rejoining the club from Hull
00:17KR on a one-year deal which I understand has an option for a second season. He'll
00:23replace David Fusitua, the New Zealand wingman is set to leave Leeds when his
00:28contract expires at the end of this season though that hasn't actually been
00:31confirmed by the club as of yet. I'd expect them to make an announcement on
00:35that in the next few days. Also leaving is Rhys Martin who we know is joining
00:41Hull KR on a two-year contract he's going to be very difficult to replace
00:45and James Donaldson the forward who's joining Bradford Bulls. He wants to go
00:51part-time. He was offered a new deal by Leeds but he's got a job away from the
00:56sport and he's going to play for his first professional club Bradford Bulls
01:00on a two-year deal. I also expect that they'll announce that Lewis Roberts and
01:06Corey Johnson, two players have been on the fringe of the first team, they've both
01:10made first team appearances this year but haven't been regulars. They'll both
01:13be leaving when their contract expires at the end of this season. So that leaves
01:17Leeds with a little bit of room for manoeuvre however the problem they've
01:21got is that there isn't much room on the salary cap from what I'm hearing.
01:26They do have a couple of quota spots available with Rhys Martin and David
01:31Fusatua moving on. One of those I think will probably be used to bring in a prop
01:36coach Brad Arthur has said he wants to strengthen in that department and it's
01:40clearly an area where Leeds have struggled this season. That said they've
01:45had obviously injury problems and Tom Horroy has played only six games this
01:49year he will be hopefully back in contention next year after his
01:54concussion issues so he'll be sort of a bit like getting a new player in the
01:58squad and they're bearing that in mind. Ditto with Morgan Gannon who hasn't
02:02played at all this season after being concussed twice in preseason. He'll also
02:07be available in 2025. I understand he's impressed Brad Arthur in training. He's
02:13able to train just not doing contact work and he's looked very good
02:17apparently. Also Max Simpson he's not played for two years with an knee injury.
02:22He's due for more surgery shortly and he's also due to be back in
02:29contention. What Leeds are looking for is a prop as I've mentioned and also
02:33someone to add a bit of competition for places in the backs. The salary cap
02:41limits it. I don't think you can expect to see many signings coming in next year
02:45certainly not wholesale changes but there will be at least one I think
02:49pretty big overseas addition and possibly another from from overseas and
02:57there might be one or two others coming from domestic clubs but I think largely
03:02that Leeds will be looking to fill the gap in the squad with some of the young
03:06impressive young players they've got coming through people like Ned McCormack
03:10and Riley Long who weren't in the first-team squad officially at the start
03:15of the season and Ben Little is another one who've come in and done a decent job
03:19in the first team and they'll all get an opportunity I should think for a squad
03:24number next year so it's gonna be interesting few weeks for I know if
03:28you're hoping for a lot of signings I think you'll probably be disappointed
03:31but there will certainly be one or two over over the period between now and the
03:37start of preseason