Leeds Rhinos’ skill levels are higher than four months ago – Luke Gale

It was great to be back after so long and, on top of that, I was really impressed with the way everybody came in and how sharp they were looking.

You are always a bit wary about where the team is when you get back to work after a lengthy break, but the first week has been massively positive.

I knew from a fitness point of view we’d be in good shape, but wasn’t sure on the skills side of things.

In fact, everybody slotted back into it seamlessly.

The first session was like it was four months ago, if not better.

There’s still a lot of work to do over the next couple of weeks before we play Huddersfield, but I couldn’t be more proud of everybody.

The first few days have carried on from that – the skill has been good, everybody is in good nick and we’ve got almost a clean bill of health.

Training is a bit different to what we normally do, because of the circumstances.

We started on Monday with a bit of unopposed work and then went into team-on-team stuff.

The intensity in that 13-versus-13 session was class so it was a cracking start.

It’s also good to see everyone again after four months, even if we have to keep our distance.

That is taking some getting used to, but we’re socially distancing in the car park at Kirkstall – we’ve got some camping chairs set up and tables so we can sit and eat lunch and have a chat without getting too close.

It is a bit strange, but Konrad Hurrell has brought his speakers and he likes to think he’s a DJ so he’s keeping us entertained.

We’ve had three days back and we’re in again today [Friday].

We’ve all ripped in – I think the plan might have been to start slowly and build up, but after Monday’s session we’ve kept the intensity up; start as you mean to go on.

It’s exciting because, once we get through next week, we’ll be into game week and it’ll feel more like being back to normal.

The fixtures are out and they are going to come thick and fast. I know who we are playing in week one, but other than that I’ve not really looked.

I always take a week at a time and go from there, so once we’ve played Huddersfield I’ll start thinking about the next game.

I’ve been told it gets busy after September and we’ve got nine matches between September 30 and November 12/13, but that is exciting and it’s good to be back to doing what we do best.

Hopefully we’ll be playing in front of fans before too long.

We all know the pandemic isn’t over, but the club have been first class with keeping us all safe.

We’ve been tested for Covid a couple of times and it’s not nice – you get something shoved down your throat and something shoved up your nose – but it’s what we’ve got to do to get back in so it’s a small price to pay.

The safety measures have been fantastic. We are social distancing as much as we can, though obviously it’s hard to do that on a pitch, but the big thing has been minimising the time spent together. Sometimes that can’t be helped, but we are wiping everything down after the gym, which is a bit monotonous, but it’s part of the new normal now.

The club, Super League and the RFL have all made sure players’ safety is paramount and we could not have asked for much more, so everybody is in good spirits and it has been a fantastic first week.

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