Leeds Rhinos rookie compared to legend Jamie Peacock as 'lots of games next year' prediction made
A Leeds Rhinos rookie is tipped to play “a lot of games” next season, after being compared to club legend Jamie Peacock.
Academy product Ben Littlewood, who made two substitute appearances last term after one in 2024, started in the second-row in Rhinos’ Boxing Day win against Wakefield Trinity and gave a strong account of himself. He is a player assistant-coach Jamie Langley expects to “kick on” in 2026.
“Ben is a great kid,” Langley said of the 20-year-old. “He is very unassuming, very quiet; he just goes about his business and you almost forget he’s there sometimes. For such a big fella with a big presence, he goes under the radar a bit, but he doesn’t get much wrong.
“You can give him instruction, he’ll take it on board and he can go and action it. He’s really intelligent, high IQ and he can cover middle and back-row for us. If you speak to the boys, they’ll say he reminds them of Jamie Peacock - all elbows and knees and a tough bloke to tackle in training. I think he has a big future ahead of him and I’m really excited to see how he kicks on.”
Langley admitted some fringe players could go out on loan once the season begins, in a bid to gain regular game time, but he stressed Rhinos are also keen to ensure they also develop within the club’s own system. “Potentially,” he said of the possibility of loaning players to other clubs.
“Those discussions are going on behind closed doors. If there’s opportunities to get lads regular first team rugby, especially at Super League level, that’s something we’ll certainly look at. We like to keep the lads without our building as well, because culturally and from a blueprint perspective it is good to have those boys on hand, playing week-in, week-out with the reserves if we can, so they are ready to step up.
“We can expect some of the lads - Ben Littlewood particularly - who have been on the fringes the last couple of years to play a lot of games next season. Though we know it’s important to get them out and get them regular game time at first team level, we have to ensure we’ve got a close eye on them as well. Those conversations will be happening with Brad [Arthur, Rhinos’ team boss] and Chev [Walker, transitions coach] and we’ll see as we get close to the season how that transpires.”