Leeds Rhinos' Brodie Croft reveals contract latest with 'never say no' pledge as deal enters final year
Stand-off Brodie Croft has spoken about his “love” for Leeds Rhinos as he enters the final year of his contract.
The Australian former Man of Steel joined Rhinos from Salford Red Devils ahead of the 2024 season on a three-year deal. He is one of eight Leeds players whose future beyond this season has yet to be decided and revealed all options are still on the table, including returning to the southern hemisphere or staying at Rhinos.
Croft, who played in the NRL for Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos before joining Salford, said: “It is still pretty early in the year, we’re in January and we’re not playing games at the moment so I am not too fazed about it. I am just worrying about doing my job and I’ll let my agent do his and sort things out.”
Rhinos centre Harry Newman and second-row James McDonnell have both signed for new NRL club Perth Bears on two-year deals beginning next season and Croft wouldn’t rule out joining them if an offer was made. “I’d never say no to any options,” he stated. “I’ll see all the options on the table and go from there.”
But the 28-year-old stressed that also includes possibly staying at Rhinos. He insisted: “I love Leeds, I love the group, I love the city, I love playing at Leeds - I love home games here. I wouldn’t say no to that either. We’ve got a good group here that have built some really good connections.
“I am really enjoying playing in this group, particularly at the back end of the year, when myself, Jake [Connor] and Lachie [Miller] started building some combinations as a spine. It makes your job so much easier when you’ve got those connections with players in key positions. I am looking forward to this season ahead, having had a good season together and continuing to build from there.”
Full-back Miller was injured throughout last year’s pre-season, when Connor was new to the team and not yet the starting number seven. Croft reflected: “It wasn’t until half way through the year we were all in the team together, week-in, week-out. We didn’t have a pre-season to build those combinations, we had to do it through the year. We started firing nicely during the back end of the year and hopefully with a pre-season fully together we can continue that on.”
Croft’s third pre-season at Leeds is his second under coach Brad Arthur and he reflected: “It has been great. It has been pretty full-on, BA’s pre-seasons are always tough, but that’s what sets you up for the season. We had a strong season on the back of our pre-season last year under Brad and we’ve had a good one this time. Everyone has good pre-seasons, you don’t play anyone so there’s no real pressure, the boys are building their fitness and combinations so we’ll look forward to our trial match and see where we go from there.”
That fixture is at home to Bradford Bulls on Saturday when Cameron Smith celebrates his testimonial. Arthur is set to field his strongest-available lineup and Croft said: “The squad has built off what we did last year. We had a couple of key losses, but overall we’ve kept the core of the group together so it means we’ve one more year’s experience playing together and with BA’s systems and structures. We are building off the back of that.”
Croft and Connor are the only experienced halves in Rhinos’ full-time group. That could mean rookie George Brown stepping in if either of them is ruled out and Croft hailed the teenager - who is likely to feature this weekend - as a “really exciting” prospect.
He said: “I really like the way he goes about things. He has been asking Jake and me plenty of questions in pre-season and I am really excited to see his future and what it holds for him. He has got plenty of talent and skill and the work ethic to want to succeed. That’s what excited me the most about him. I am really looking forward to following his future and seeing where it goes.”