'Nail down spot' vow made as Leeds Rhinos' Jack Sinfield reveals long-term aim
Rising star Jack Sinfield has revealed the Leeds Rhinos role he wants to make his own this year.
Rhinos’ 17-4 Magic Weekend defeat of St Helens was Sinfield’s 10th appearance of the season, his second in succession as Leeds’ starting scrum-half and his 25th first team game for the club. He has also started once, against amateurs Wests Warriors in the Betfred Challenge Cup, at hooker and covered both positions off the bench.
Though stand-off Brodie Croft is currently on the casualty list, Sinfield is being preferred to the more experienced Matt Frawley in the halves and he’s enjoying the run. “I’ve had a fair few more appearances this year,” he said.
“I am really enjoying just being a part of it. It has been nice to play in the halves the last few weeks, that’s where I want to play long-term. It has been nice to get an opportunity there and hopefully I can push on.”
But Sinfield admitted being able to play in more than one role is a useful attribute. “That’s what Brad [Arthur, Rhinos’ coach] has spoken to me about since he has been here really and especially in pre-season,” he added.
“We’ve got some very talented players in all the spine positions, so wherever I can get minutes is good for me, even though the spot I want to nail down is the seven spot. I am still young and still learning, but I feel I am in a good position now to push on and nail down that role in the team. That’s what I want to be doing. I want to be part of the 13 every week so I’ll keep learning and getting better and hopefully that’s where I’ll end up.”
With no Betfred Super League this weekend, Rhinos will spend the next two weeks in fourth place in the table following their victory in Newcastle. “It’s always good to go into a week off on the back of a win,” Sinfield reflected.
“On a big occasion like that, in a great stadium, it’s always nice to get the two points - especially in a tight contest like that. It has been a bit of a theme for us, we feel like we are putting ourselves in a position to win games and sort of letting ourselves down a bit at the back end.
“That was a big focus for us in the week, making sure we stick at it for the full-80 and I feel like we did that; even though a few things went against us and we put ourselves under the pump a bit, I thought we stuck at it for 80 and managed to get the win.”
Leeds played expansive rugby, particularly early on as they raced into a 10-0 lead. “We spoke about moving the ball around early,” Sinfield confirmed. “I thought we did that really well. Obviously, we have got some very skilful outside-backs so any time they can get the ball in some space it’s a positive for us.”
The scrum-half’s dad Kevin Sinfield kicked 39 drop goals for Leeds and the first of Jack’s senior career put breathing space between the teams midway through the second half, making it 11-4. “I just thought we were under the pump a bit,” he explained.
“We had done a lot of defending on our own goalline and I think it was important to take the pressure off a little bit and get more than one score ahead - it was just resetting and starting again because we got a bit frantic there for a period.”