'Exciting times': Leeds Rhinos captain relishes new role v Wakefield Trinity & makes Grand Final prediction
Versatile veteran Chris Hankinson will add a couple more strings to his bow when Leeds Rhinos face Wakefield Trinity on Boxing Day.
Rhinos’ new number 14 is set to captain the side from the unaccustomed position of stand-off in the annual Wetherby Whaler Festive Challenge. “I know there’s a few senior boys missing, but it is an honour and a privilege to captain the side,” he said.
“I am a senior head in the team and I have adapted my game over the last few years to what it is now, when I’m playing quite a number of positions. I’ve played centre for the majority of my career, but I’ve played along the back-five - and now back-seven - for the last two or three years.
“It is something I’ve had to adapt to and I do enjoy it. I know a lot of players love to cement a single spot, but I am going to embrace it and I will do everything I can for the team.”
Brodie Croft and Jake Connor - who won’t feature this week - are the only specialist half-backs in Rhinos’ senior squad for 2026, so Hankinson could be asked to step in if either is ruled out during the season. “I grew up playing six,” he revealed.
“I’ve got the hands, really, but you need a lot of reps playing a position like that, which I am slowly getting to grips with now. I haven’t spent too much time training there, I’ve been out on the edges for most of pre-season, but it’s something I’ll do if it’s asked of me.
“Our two main spine members are Jake and Brodie, but we’ve lost [Jack] Sinfield so there’s a gap that needs to be filled. If that’s something I can help with, of course I’ll put my hand up and do my best for the team.”
Another option is teenager George Brown, Rhinos’ reigning academy player of the year, who will start alongside Hankinson on Friday. “I think he’s someone to keep an eye on for a long time,” Hankinson said. “He looks like he has got that about him.
“I’ve enjoyed playing alongside him over the past week. We had our first taste of it against Huddersfield [in an opposed training session on Rhinos’ warm weather camp] in Tenerife. It’s an exciting time for him, for his game to develop and there’s no better players to do that under than Brodie Croft and Jake Connor.”
Hankinson joined Leeds from Salford Red Devils in August on a deal until the end of 2025. That has now been extended to cover the whole of next season and the former Wigan Warriors man insisted: “A club like Leeds, it is huge. The way they go about their business off the field, it is a champion club. All we have to do now is translate that into silverware, which is something I want to help towards.
“It is an exciting time for the team and the club. You can kind of see a blueprint of the direction it’s going - there’s a lot of other teams who are doing the same, but our goal is to be at Old Trafford next year. I do believe we’ve got the squad to do that.
“There’s some exciting young players and a good mix of older senior players too, so I don’t see why not. When you see performances like the ones we put in against Hull KR a couple of times last year, especially the one at home, that was quite a dominant performance. It’s just a shame we couldn’t back that up into the play-offs, but it shows what we can do. If we can do that consistently this year, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be up there.”