Leeds Rhinos get signing 'over the line' as bid to beat transfer deadline considered
Leeds Rhinos haven’t ruled out making a signing to strengthen their squad before this month’s transfer deadline, sporting director Ian Blease has revealed.
Blease also says Rhinos are waiting for paperwork to be completed on one signing and two more - a forward and outside-back - are in the pipeline. Rhinos have so far confirmed two recruits for 2027, with second-rower Morgan Gannon returning to Leeds after a season at New Zealand Warriors and utility-player Dylan Walker incoming from Parramatta Eels.
The 2026 transfer window shuts on August 21 and Blease told the Leeds Rhinos Podcast: “It’s a busy time looking just in case we can strengthen this year. We’ve been doing a bit of that over the last couple of weeks and have a couple of weeks left to do something, so hopefully we might get something over the line - if we choose to do that.”
However, with Rhinos top of Betfred Super League, Blease insisted: “The boys are going well so it has got to be the right person to come and take a shirt off somebody.”
Of recruits for next year and beyond, Blease added: “I think we’ve got one over the line this weekend, just waiting for the contract to come back - and then there will probably be another forward and another outside-back as well, all being well. We’ve known for a while which positions we’ve needed to backfill so it’s not a surprise to us and we’ve been doing a bit of work over the last few months on that.”
Rhinos have also recently announced new deals for several homegrown youngsters who are training with the first team squad. Blease stressed: “We’ve got one eye on our succession plan as well.
“We’ve seen some of that come into fruition this year with Ben Littlewood coming in, Zak Lloyd making his debut last week, Alfie Edgell and Riley Lumb coming through on the wings and Presley Cassell has made a great impression this year. We’ve got our eye on that and there’s a few other young guns coming through we’ve got our eye on for next season as well.”
Blease also explained why this season’s signing Ethan O’Neill was allowed to join Hull FC after just four appearances for Leeds. He was on a three-year contract and Blease said: “It was a shame for Ethan as I was really excited when we signed him.
“Because we didn’t get many injuries early on in the season, he didn’t get a chance and he wanted to play and I understood that. When he got his opportunity at Hull and wanted to go, we thought the best thing for him was to do that.”
Leeds have already confirmed another 2026 addition, Jeremiah Mata’utia, won’t be retained next season. Blease added: “Jeremiah is probably going to play in Super League at another club, so he’ll get another chance. That was our last bit of cap with Jeremiah so it didn’t hurt