Leeds Rhinos 'in a good place' says youth boss as homegrown talent knocks on first team door

That is the message from Rhinos’ head of youth John Bastian, who believes a host of teenagers who have yet to make a first team appearance could become Betfred Super League regulars in the next few years. The second-string’s season started Yesterday (Saturday), with the under-18s academy playing their first game the following week and Bastian is excited about what lies ahead for the club’s youngsters.

“There is still plenty of work to achieve, but there’s an abundance of quality players in the under-15s, 16 and 18s and coming through into the reserves,” Bastian told The Yorkshire Evening Post. “The fans will see them over the coming months and years and they are an exciting bunch with a real togetherness and a terrific attitude to what they want to achieve.”

Academy products Alfie Edgell and Tom Nicholson-Watton both made their first team debut at the end of last season, when Jack Sinfield, who first broke through in 2022, had a run of games. Other youngsters including Fergus and Ned McCormack, Ben Littlewood, Jack Smith and Riley Lumb all train regularly with the full-time squad and are awaiting a Super League chance. The ultimate aim is a team based around academy products, boosted by talented signings from elsewhere in Super League and abroad.

“That’s exciting for everyone connected with the club, from the youth development side all the way up to the first team and the board of directors who invest consistently in youth development and place a real value on it,” Bastian added. “We are at a stage where we are going to see some of those players pushing through. They are on the edge of the first team and building their DNA so they are ready to play when Rohan [Smith, Rhinos’ coach] and his staff think they are ready. Rohan won’t rush that, he will take his time with those young players and a lot of credit goes to the coaches, strength and conditioning staff and physios who all play a significant part in building those players up and getting them into a position where they are going out on the field and instantly competing and making a difference.”

Bastian is in his second spell with Leeds, having been at the club in the early 2000s when the golden generation, who dominated Super League from 2004 to 2017, were beginning to make their mark. He is reluctant to compare the players who emerged then to those coming through now, but feels Leeds do have exceptional talent in their system.

“They are two different eras,” he insisted. “The golden generation were a remarkable group of people that kept building year on year. It started with players like Kevin Sinfield, Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire and then you started getting the likes of Lee Smith, Carl Ablett, Ryan Hall, Ben Jones-Bishop…There was a constant flow of home-grown players who were integrated really well with players the club brought in from overseas and other Super League clubs.

“There was a really good balance and that made the club what it became. Now we are into a different phase altogether. Maybe we lost some of that identity and we are certainly starting to bring that back. Hopefully that same method is going to be the catalyst for the club moving forward and building success.”

Thirteen of the 31 players with a squad number for 2024 spent at least some time in Rhinos’ system below Super League level, including Harry Newman, Tom Holroyd and Mikolaj Oledzki - who have all played for England in the past couple of seasons - and captain Cameron Smith. Bastian said: “The talent identification and development process has always been in a good place and that is certainly starting to intensify. Rohan and his staff are very proactive in making sure we do our best to get the right type of people and the right type of talent into the club, so we can progress.”

The youth department’s job includes embedding Rhinos’ “standards” into young players from the moment they join the club, according to Bastian. Of what those standards involve, he revealed: “We talk a lot about smart discipline and about being respectful, but also having fun and enjoying it, having some intensity and learning from every session. Our players know what our expectations are and have bought right into that.

“The overseas players the club have brought in - Brodie Croft, Andy Ackers, Paul Momirovski, Lachie Miller, Matt Frawley - have added even more quality and some of the players recruited from other Super League clubs have made a big difference to the culture; the likes of James McDonnell, who has been terrific.

“That plays a big part in the togetherness of the team. We are finding that balance with homegrown players who are beginning to distinguish themselves and then building youth underneath them. What we want is a constant flow of quality young players who want to make a difference at Leeds Rhinos.

“That is starting to pay dividends now. Ultimately the fans and stakeholders in the club want wins, but that takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight when you are building a new roster and a new staffing structure, but we are certainly in a strong place.”

A young Rhinos reserves side began their season with a 34-24 defeat at Leigh Leopards. Littlewood and Sinfield –who kicked four goals – both crossed twice and Ned McCormack was the other try scorer.