Leeds Rhinos coach Rohan Smith reveals plan for new signing Lachie Miller and No 1 Richie Myler

The 29-year-old will join Rhinos from Newcastle Knights in pre-season on a contract until the end of 2026.

A convert from rugby union only two years ago, he has played full-back for Newcastle, had a spell on the right-wing with Cronulla Sharks and can also slot into the halves.

Smith confirmed: “He is a full-back who can play other positions, that’s the way we see him.” He said: “He will be coming here to play full-back, primarily, at this point in time.

"He is going to bring some attributes to that position we don’t currently have, but we are also well-equipped there with players who can play in support at full-back and can also play other roles.”

Of those attributes, Smith told his weekly preview press conference today (Thursday): “We’ve done a lot of homework and research on Lachie as a player and a person.

“He is a really well-regarded player at both NRL clubs he has been at. He is a fast, broken-field player, he has a good level of skill and we see a real upside to the fact he has only been in the NRL system for a couple of years.

“We feel there’s a lot of growth and improvement [in him] and the way we play can allow him to grow with the team.”

Rhinos’ current first-choice full-back Richie Myler is under contract until the end of next season. Of the implications for Myler, Smith said: “Richie has played a bunch of half-back in the time I have been here and 300 games in the halves over his career, I think.

“He has got good versatility, he understands the situation and there will be opportunities for him to play in the halves next year and to still be a full-back and cover there. We have always got to have depth in each position.

“Richie has shown he can play [half-back], we have a good understanding of how we want to grow and build our attacking footy and I think he really understands that. If he ends up playing a bunch of half-back next year, that’ll be good too.”

Stand-off Blake Austin joined Castleford Tigers earlier this month and scrum-half Aidan Sezer has signed with Wests Tigers, in Australia, for 2024. Asked if Rhinos will look to bring in a half-back, Smith stated: “Recruitment is an on-going thing we have been working on every day since I have been here.

“There’s balls in the air and things happening in the background and we will continue to work on that. We also see big improvement potential in the players we have in our group as well.

"We have got some young players in those positions [and] we are hoping to add some experience to help those young kids develop as well.”

Forward James Donaldson this week re-signed for next year, but no decision has yet been announced on David Fusitu’a, James Bentley, Zane Tetevano and Joe Gibbons, who are out of contract in November.

Smith said: “There’s a bunch of recruitment and retention things in the pipeline that are bubbling away. Some are close and some are a bit of a work in progress, but there will be news coming pretty soon.”

Smith will name his initial 21-man squad for Sunday’s game at Huddersfield Giants at noon on Friday. Second-rower James McDonnell suffered a back spasm in last week’s win over Warrington Wolves and Smith said: “He was a bit ginger earlier in the week, but he got himself moving a little bit yesterday.

“We will see how he is; he will be in some doubt, but he’d like to think he is still a chance this weekend. It is not a long-term thing at this point in time.”

Smith said there “won’t be massive changes” in his 17 for Sunday, but predicted some rookies will get an opportunity before the season ends.

He noted: “We’ve got a reasonably thin squad of experienced players and we might see a couple of young players get closer to a game this week - Jack Sinfield, Leon Ruan, Alfie Edgell are all in the reckoning.

“They are only one knock away from getting an opportunity. They are biding their time well and they are working hard. They have done well in the lower grades so if they get a turn I am happy to see that.”