Fitness boost for Leeds Rhinos prospect: outside-back to return in Festive Challenge v Wakefield Trinity

Edgell hasn’t played since limping out of a last-gasp defeat at Wakefield Trinity in July, but will make his comeback when Rhinos begin their pre-season campaign against the same opponents tomorrow (Boxing Day). He confirmed: “I am fully fit, I stayed behind for about three weeks after the season finished and got fit and I’ve done all of the pre-season, so it’s all good.”

The injury sustained at Wakefield was thought to be bruising to a bone, but a rescan later pin-pointed a stress fracture. That was a major blow after Edgell had successfully recovered from surgery on a fractured jaw suffered in training ahead of last year’s Boxing Day game.

The two setbacks limited him to only eight appearances last season, in which he scored four tries including a hat-trick during a home win against Salford Red Devils a week before the drama at Wakefield. Outlining his aim for the new campaign, which is the last on his current contract, the 21-year-old stressed: “If you can be available for as many games as possible you have more chance of playing and that’s the main thing. I am just hoping to play as much as I can.”

He added: “Pre-season has been really good, I am really enjoying it. We’ve got some new young lads coming through and it’s kind of nice not to be one of the youngest lads any more. I want to try and step up a bit and push on to the next level and the younger boys are pushing us as well.

“We’ve got a really good group and it’s a tough team to get into, but that’s what you want. I think maybe some of the games I came into in 2024, we were on the back foot for a lot of the time, but when I came in this year I was a year older and it felt way easier. Hopefully I can come into a good winning team again, if I get the chance.”

Edgell has played most of his first team rugby as a winger, but will start in his favoured role on Boxing Day. “I’d say full-back is my preferred position,” he confirmed. “But I am aware of the situation I am in. Lachie [Miller, Rhinos’ number one] is unbelievable so my best asset could be my versatility, like it has been the last couple of years. I’ve played wing, centre, full-back and played a little bit in the halves in training, but I don’t know if that’d actually go into a game.”

Though Rhinos lack cover at stand-off and scrum-half after Matt Frawley and Jack Sinfield left the club, Edgell insisted they can cope if either Brodie Croft or Jake Connor is ruled out. “We’ve got George Brown and Chris Hankinson is playing there [stand-off] on Boxing Day,” he noted. “We’ve got some youth who can do it and versatile outside-backs as well.”