'Could be a great signing': Leeds Rhinos recruit is a threat warns Warrington Wolves boss Daryl Powell

Olpherts was the competition’s third-highest metre-maker last year and second-best for carries, as well as scoring 18 tries.

That was as a winger, but Rhinos coach Rohan Smith has indicated Olpherts could play at centre this term.

Powell knows the 31-year-old better than most, having signed him for Castleford Tigers three years ago and also coached him at Featherstone Rovers early in his career.

“I know he can play in different positions,” Powell said. “Whether he can do that at Super League level, that’s the Challenge.

“I know the way Rohan coaches, it’s obvious he moves people around a little bit, so if he can fit into that, he could be a great signing.

“He certainly is a good winger - carrying the ball he is one of the best wingers in the comp, so from that perspective he is a real challenge for defences.”

Smith has kept tight-lipped on his lineup for the round one clash and Powell admitted: “It’s the first game and they’ve mixed it up in pre-season so it’s hard to pick who they’re going to play and where they’re going to play people.”

But he warned: “They have got a good squad, the young players coming through always hold Leeds together if they’ve got injuries, they’ve got real quality there and they’ve signed a couple of players that’ll improve them.

“I looked at Sam Lisone a few years back and know what he can do and they’ve got people like [Kruise] Leeming at nine who’s a real threat, so I think they’ve got a good squad and they’ll be a real challenge.”

Hosts Warrington will be keen to show how much they have improved after finishing second from bottom last year.

“I think we are in great shape,” Powell pledged. “We’ve had a quality pre-season. There’s going to be some challenges for us, I think the comp’s going to be hard this year, but we are in a great spot.

“We’ve only had one game [with a full first team squad], but that was a proper, physical game against Leigh - they put it all out there and got stuck into us and I think we handled that well, were solid defensively and did some smart things with the ball.”