'A good asset': Rhyse Martin welcomes Leeds Rhinos' new signing Nene Macdonald

Martin captained Macdonald during last year’s World Cup and said he is “excited” to team up again with the powerful three-quarter.

Macdonald, 28, is the only off-season recruit to have been awarded a place in Rhinos’ top 13 and takes the number four spot held last season by Liam Sutcliffe.

The departures of Sutcliffe to Hull and Zak Hardaker, who has joined Macdonald’s previous club Leigh Leopards, leave big boots to fill, but Martin reckons Macdonald will be a good addition when he recovers from the quad muscle injury which has made him doubtful for Betfred Super League round one, next month.

“He has played at the highest level of the game,” Martin noted.

“He did really well at Leigh last year and I think for him to come to us, with where we are as a team, he is going to do really well.”

Macdonald, who played for Australian Schoolboys in 2011 and made his PNG debut two years later, has 98 NRL appearances to his name, with Sydney Roosters, Gold Coast Titans, St George-Illawarra Dragons, North Queensland Cowboys and Cronulla Sharks.

He played under Rhinos coach Rohan Smith at Norths Devils when they won the Queensland Cup Grand Final in 2021 and was a member of Leigh Centurions’ Betfred Championship-winning squad last season.

He scored 26 tries in 27 games and featured in Leigh’s 1895 Cup triumph over Featherstone Rovers and title-clinching defeat of Batley Bulldogs.

Martin added: “He will be a good asset for us.

“He is a big body, he is strong and he adds another strike player to our team.”

Macdonald is one of eight new signings in Leeds’ full-time group, while Sutcliffe and Hardaker were among nine players to leave after featuring in Rhinos’ first team last year.

“All the young guys who got their chance last year will have another pre-season on the back of that and some confidence,” Martin said of Rhinos’ new-look squad.

“The squad as a whole will be a lot better for a pre-season under Rohan and I think it’s exciting times for the club.”

Martin was given time off after the World Cup, but is now back in training after a spell “trying to relax, recover and get over what was a pretty big year for us”.

He said: “I was busy doing bits after the World Cup, I’ve just moved into my new house so I’ve been busy doing little things around that and keeping myself occupied.

“I got some rest [in December] and enjoyed training by myself and I am excited to be back.”

Pre-season training has resumed following a Christmas break, after the Boxing Day defeat by Wakefield Trinity.

Rhinos are back in action at Leigh on Saturday, January 21 and also have first team trial games at home to Bradford Bulls eight days later and away against Hull KR on Sunday, February 5.

The RFL’s match review panel will meet on Thursday to study Christmas fixtures, including the Boxing Day game when Rhinos had James Donaldson sin-binned.

Leeds’ Super League campaign begins on Thursday, February 16, away to Warrington Wolves.