Zak Hardaker hails the support of Leeds Rhinos fans

The 2015 treble winner was named man of the match in Rhinos’ 24-6 win over Wakefield Trinity, which was his first home game at Headingley for six years.

“The fans were great, they always have been,” Hardaker, who re-signed for Leeds after being released by Wigan Warriors, said.

“To have that support behind you is fantastic.

“I have played in the [redeveloped stadium] before, but not in a Leeds shirt.

“It is something I was really looking forward to doing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was even better to get a win.”

Hardaker played at centre in his first game back at Leeds, a defeat to Salford Red Devils eight days ago, but was selected at full-back last Friday.

“I enjoyed it,” he said.

“It is no secret it is my preferred position, but I don’t mind centre as well.

“I spoke to Rohan [Smith, Rhinos’ coach] before I even signed about the positions I can play and it is good I can play a multitude of different positions, especially with the team having been a bit down on luck with injuries.

“But we are getting some bodies back, Harry Newman’s not far off, Aidan Sezer and Jack Walker as well.

“We are getting healthier as the season goes on, which is great, so it’s just about taking my chances and doing my best for the team.

“I am just enjoying being back at Leeds.”

Hardaker signed until the end of this season and insisted he has “not thought too much [about next year]”.

He said: “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

“I am really enjoying turning up for training and enjoying the lads.

“They have been really good, they’ve really accepted me, which is always a bit daunting when you come into a new group half way through the year.

“They have been terrific, Rohan has been great, the coaching staff have been fantastic and the reception I get from the fans makes the transition a bit easier as well.

“I’ll train as hard as I can and repay the faith when I get on to the pitch.”

The win over Trinity sent Rhinos into this weekend’s Betfred Challenge Cup final break in high spirits.

Hardaker said: “A lot of the things Rohan has tried to put into play, we tried them against Salford and I think we were too focused on the attack and how we wanted to do that.

“That probably took away our defence.

“With another week under Rohan, I think we got the balance right.

“We talked about the ruck, if it gets fast try and stay there.

“We could be a Leeds team that throws the ball about and gets the wingers to score five tries apiece, but I think [on Friday] when it was bucketing it down with rain, the game plan changes completely.

“I thought we played the conditions really well and some players played really well. I thought Blake Austin had a really good game, Bentos [James Bentley] was good and David Fusitu’a – he is a big thing and really strong.

“When guys like that are playing really well in those conditions, as a full-back I just have to be busy and I thought I did that overall, so it was pretty pleasing.”

Hardaker feels Rhinos can approach the trip to Warrington Wolves on June 3 in confident mood.

He said: “When you lose and you’ve got a week off, you have a few days stewing about the performance and what you could have done better. There’s obviously a lot of improvements in us yet, under a new system and new coach.

“We’ve got plenty of things to work on, we’ll get back into work on Monday and go again for another tough fixture at Warrington.”