Leeds Rhinos youngster Alex Sutcliffe is handed his time to shine

The Oulton Raiders product made only his third appearance in four seasons when Rhinos won 22-8 at Salford Red Devils three days ago.

He got on as a substitute for the final 12 minutes, after recovering from a broken hand suffered in pre-season.

“It is good to get straight back in,” Sutcliffe said. “I am happy Rich [Agar, Rhinos’ coach] gave me an opportunity and a chance.

“I didn’t play long, but when you are on you have to try and do what you can.”

Sutcliffe admitted his call-up was a surprise after just a week back in full training. Liam Sutcliffe, who is no relation, was expected to be available for the game at Salford, but failed a fitness test on a knee at the captain’s run - Rhinos’ final training session - the day before the game.

Alex Sutcliffe said: “He [Agar] told me fairly early on in the week he was going to name me in the squad, but the chances I was going to play were pretty slim. It was depending on Sutty and Harry [Newman], but I was just happy to get a call-up.”

Sutcliffe made his Rhinos debut in 2017, when then-coach Brian McDermott fielded a scratch side away to Wigan Warriors the week before a Challenge Cup semi-final. He was in the full-time squad the following year without playing a senior game and made one substitute appearance in 2019 in Leeds’ Magic Weekend win over London Broncos.

A dual-registration stint with Featherstone Rovers gave him some game time and he proved his credentials by scoring 16 tries in 19 games. He impressed for Rhinos in the Boxing Day win over Wakefield Trinity, but the injury - suffered on the final day of Leeds’ pre-season training camp in Spain - kept him out of action for a month.

“It is sweet now, fully healed,” he said. “There’s no problems with it at all. It was just a broken bone so you can’t really do much with it.

“We went away to camp and it was the last training session before the Bradford game, which I was down to play in. It was just a freak incident, my hand hit the floor and it broke.”

That was a setback after Sutcliffe’s form last year and in Rhinos’ opening pre-season match. He added: “I wanted to keep the momentum going throughout this year from last year. From Boxing Day I had some good feedback so it was frustrating.”

Agar has spoken on his “high rating” on Sutcliffe and, having turned 21 earlier this month, the player knows he needs to begin establishing himself at Super League level.

“I haven’t set a target for how many games I want to play,” he said. “There is a lot of competition in the back-row and the centre so any game is good for me. I will play anywhere on the park, I am not too fussy. I just have to bide my time and wait for my opportunity and hopefully I get it.”

Sutcliffe can play both roles, but insisted he has “no preference”. He recalled: “I was a centre in my amateur days. When I got to the academy I moved to the back-row, then back to centre in the first team. Now I am a utility. You do similar stuff, but I would say you get a lot more freedom in the centre role than the back-row - but I’ll play either.”

Agar has pledged to give young players a chance and across the board they have impressed so far this year.

Mikolaj Oledzki and Jack Walker were among the trey scorers at Salford and Harry Newman and Cameron Smith have also caught the eye.

Sutcliffe insisted: “We have got good youth, a good set of young lads who’ve come through. Rich is good with us, he gives us a chance. He has got the faith in us and I think rightly so because if we can kick on in the future it’ll be exciting.”

The win at Salford was Rhinos’ second successive victory and came after they had trailed 8-0 late in the first half.

“They are a good side, they proved that last year,” Sutcliffe said of Salford. “It was great to get two points. We are not getting ahead of ourselves, but there’s a real good vibe and we just have to kick on now.”