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Ace Hall extends Leeds Rhinos contract EXCLUSIVE
Ryan Hall in match action.
Prolific try-scorer Ryan Hall has signed a new contract which will keep him at Leeds Rhinos for the next five years.
Hall had three years left on his previous deal, but the revised agreement will head off possible attention from cash-rich clubs in Australian rugby league and the rival 15-a-side code.
“It is good to commit to the club,” said the 24-year-old England winger. “People talk about one-club men and I like the idea of that. Being a Leeds lad, it appeals to me.
“With the success we’ve had over the last few years, it wasn’t a hard decision for me to make.”
Hall has scored 107 tries in 124 appearances since making his Rhinos debut in 2007, topping Leeds’ charts with more than 30 touchdowns for each of the last three seasons.
He was a try scorer in the 2008 and 2011 Grand Final wins and crossed twice in last year’s Carnegie Challenge Cup final defeat.
Hall has already made 13 England appearances, scoring seven tries and after his performances in last year’s Gillette Four Nations he is widely rated as one of the world’s top wingers.
“Rugby league careers can end in an instant, if you get a bad injury or something like that, so it is great to get some long-term security,” added the former Oulton Raiders amateur.
The new deal will take Hall up to a possible testimonial season, but he insisted: “I am not taking that for granted.
“It is not in Leeds’ power to grant testimonials, that is up to the League.”
Despite his glittering career so far, Hall insists there are still things he wants to achieve.
“We have not won a Challenge Cup and I have never played in a winning World Club Challenge,” he said.
“Hopefully this year we will get chance to do both. The World Club is at Headingley this year, so hopefully we’ll have a good chance of winning that.
“Every team starts on a level playing field in the Challenge Cup, but we have been there for the last two years and hopefully it can be third time lucky this time.”
Hall is set to make his first appearance of pre-season on Friday night, when Rhinos play host to Featherstone Rovers in Rob Burrow’s testimonial game.
“We are in great shape at the moment after the pre-season camp in Cyprus,” Hall said. “The England lads only came back in officially just after Christmas so we getting into our stride.
“We are looking forward to the game on Friday, it should be a great night for Rob and he absolutely deserves it.
“He was a player I looked up to when I first came into the side and he has already achieved so much in his career.”
Rhinos boss Brian McDermott reckons Hall’s new deal is a huge coup for the club – and rugby league as a whole.
“I think as a sport we should be very happy that a player of Ryan Hall’s calibre has committed his future to our game,” he said.
“Ryan is a natural born finisher who has an innate ability to get the ball over the line when opportunities come his way.
“To have consistently scored 30 or more tries in the last three seasons speaks for itself.
“It is not just his natural attributes that make him such a good player, he works incredibly hard on his all-round game and developing his body so he is at his best to make the most of the chances when they come his way.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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tiff
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 05:39 PMThis guy is the best winger in the world at this moment in time.
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