Overseas forward Jeremiah Mata’utia has returned to Leeds Rhinos after four months on loan at Hull FC.

The Australian prop linked up with Hull in April, initially on a week-to-week basis. An extended one-month deal was announced on June 8 and that has now expired. Mata’utia, 21, made nine Betfred Super League appearances for Hull, including last Saturday’s Magic Weekend derby against Hull KR at Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.

A statement from the East Yorkshire club today (Tuesday) said: “Hull FC can confirm Jeremiah Mata’utia has returned to Leeds Rhinos following the end of his loan spell with the club. We’d like to thank Jerry for his efforts in black and white and wish him the best of luck for the remainder of the season.”

Leeds Rhinos prop Jeremiah Mata'utia seen during his loan spell with Hull FC. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

Another Aussie forward, second-rower Ethan O’Neill, recently returned to Leeds for treatment to a hamstring injury after playing five times with Hull on a similar arrangement. He was today named in FC’s 21-man squad for their game at York Knights on Thursday.

Rhinos boss Brad Arthur last week confirmed he was willing to let O’Neill return to Hull, but stressed other loans are not on the agenda. He said. “Our mentality now is we have done our bit. Guys have got enough game time and we need to lock down and make sure we keep them all in-house and go from there.”

The coach added: “Ethan has been there [Hull] for a while and done some training with them. He is quite comfortable there so his situation is different to the rest of them, but we won’t be loaning any more players out.”

Mata’utia joined Rhinos in pre-season from North Queensland Cowboys on a one-year contract which includes an option for 2027. He has made just two substitute appearances, most recently against Castleford Tigers in March.