Leeds Rhinos: Tui Lolohea excited by pre-season progress

The stand-off will pull on a Rhinos shirt for the first time in the Wetherby Whaler Festive Challenge at Emerald Headingley, though fellow recruits centre Konrad Hurrell and prop Trent Merrin miss out due to slight injuries.

The pre-season opener against Wakefield Trinity will bring down the curtain on a dismal year for Rhinos, but after several seasons with only minor changes to the squad they will have a new look in 2019.

An “excited” Lolohea insists progress is being achieved under David Furner, who makes his Leeds coaching debut this week and reflecting on his first month at the club, he said: “Training has been awesome, the boys have been ripping in which is a positive.”

Lolohea and last season’s player of the year Richie Myler are set to start 2019 as Rhinos’ first-choice half-backs – with fellow recruit Callum McLelland backing them up – and will be on duty together on Wednesday.

“That’s our spine so I have been doing a lot of work with Richie, trying to get our combinations going,” Lolohea added. “We’ve been doing some good things and I think we’re going in the right direction.”

A month into his three-year contract, Lolohea – who arrived on November 21 – is starting to feel at home and keen to pull his boots on in anger for the first time.

“I am really enjoying it,” he confirmed. “I am settling in pretty well here.

“I am getting to know the boys a bit better now and it has been a good start for me.

“Even the weather has not been too bad; some days have been pretty cold, but I guess that’s all part of being here so I am really excited.”

Hurrell arrived at the end of November with Merrin touching down in Leeds early this month and their absence on Boxing Day is disappointing.

“They are good signings for the club,” Lolohea said of his fellow NRL exiles.

“What they can do and what they can offer to the team is massive.

“Trent is experienced and has played at the highest level of rugby league.

“Konny is a wrecking ball, that’s what everyone knows him for.”

Wednesday will not be Lolohea’s Headingley debut.

He played there for New Zealand in a trial match ahead of the Kiwis’ 2015 Test series against England, but insisted he is thrilled to taste the atmosphere as a home player.

“I am excited, I just want to get out there and play my first game as a Rhino,” he said.

“I am sure it is going to be a good day, the crowd is going to be supporting us, enjoying the moment and the occasion.”

It will be the first time Lolohea has played at Christmas and more than a month before the competitive season begins.

“It is something different and, I think, all part of the new journey,” he added.

“We are a long way out [from the start of the season], but I guess it’s chance for us to get out as a team and see where we are at. What we’ve practiced in pre-season, it is a good chance for us to see how we can execute these things and where we can get better.

“The more time we spend together the better we will be.”