Leeds Rhinos' Harry Newman talks Maika Sivo, competition for places & England's Headingley Test v Samoa

Rhinos have added three backs with international experience to their squad, the latest being winger Maika Sivo who scored an incredible 104 tries in only 114 NRL appearances for Parramatta Eels, where he was coached by Leeds boss Brad Arthur.

The Fijian will join Leeds in pre-season, alongside ex-England men winger Ryan Hall and utility-back Jake Connor. They bolster a backline already including centre Newman - set to make his sixth international appearance in today’s (Saturday) Test against Samoa at AMT Headingley - and winger Ash Handley, who played for England in the mid-season defeat of France, but missed the current series through injury.

Young outside-backs Alfie Edgell and Riley Lumb will also be in the mix after impressing this year and highly-rated rookie centre Max Simpson could be available following two seasons on the casualty list. It’s an exciting prospect and Newman reckons Sivo is a “great signing”, but he accepts the pressure is on everybody to be at the top of their game throughout the campaign.

“It’s great for the club, a big name, very powerful player,” Newman said of Sivo’s move to Betfred Super League. “We’ve seen the tries he has scored over in the NRL, so to have him playing for Leeds brings that experience and size and strength and I am sure he will help us next year.”

He added: “Ryan is still playing magnificently, we saw what he did for Hull KR this year, but I think it’s that competition for places we need - not being guaranteed to play week-in, week-out. Brad has certainly brought that home with the players he has signed.

“It is good for us players as well, you can’t take your foot off the gas. I am excited about the players coming in, I’ll learn off them again and I’m looking forward to 2025 massively.”

Connor, who has penned a two-year deal after being released from the final year of his contract at Huddersfield Giants, is arguably Rhinos’ most intriguing piece of business. “He brings competition to the halves, full-back and he can play centre as well,” Newman observed.

“When he is firing, he is a fantastic player and hopefully we can get the best out of him as a group. When Jake is playing really well, he’s outstanding; he has been close to Man of Steel a couple of times and he’s really good with his try assists. He has played at international level and hopefully he comes to Leeds, brings his best and plays as well as he can.”

Newman will begin pre-season training with Rhinos on November 25 and is aiming to end his 2024 campaign with a bang this afternoon by helping England wrap up a 2-0 win in the ABK Test series. All seated tickets for Saturday were sold by the start of this week and Newman reckons playing in front of a big crowd on his home ground will be something special.

“I did it last year against Tonga and it was magnificent,” he recalled. “Hopefully I’ll stay in the 17 this week and play again at Headingley. Walking out there at any time is special, but to do it wearing an England jersey is even more special. There’ll be familiar faces all around, I am sure there’ll be a lot of Leeds fans coming to support England and a lot of family and friends as well.”

Newman set up one of England’s six tries during last Sunday’s 34-18 victory at Wigan and was reasonably satisfied with his performance in his first game since late September. “To say I hadn’t played for five weeks, I thought I carried the ball pretty strongly,” he reflected.

“I had actually been ill the week before we went into camp so I’d lost a bit of weight. I got bumped off a couple of times in defence, so I am looking to fix that up this week.”