Sir Kevin Sinfield, Morgan Gannon's heading home and latest Leeds Rhinos talking points

Star full-back Lachie Miller is available after a three-match ban and Rhinos are in good form, having overcome a tough challenge at Toulouse Olympique last time out. The future is also looking bright, with Morgan Gannon set for a return to AMT Headingley while new deals are on the table for some of the club’s brightest young prospects. Here’s five talking points.

1: Gannon home. There’s a few loose ends to tie up, but Gannon’s return next season - after a single year at New Zealand Warriors - is effectively a done deal. Rhinos moved quickly once, a couple of weeks ago, they heard the second-rower had asked to be released from his NRL contract for personal reasons.

Gannon regards Leeds as his English club and didn’t want to go anywhere else so it was simply a matter of working out the finer details. He’ll go a long way to filling the gap created when James McDonnell and Cameron Smith move on at the end of this season.

The back-rower’s issues with concussions are a concern, but Leeds didn’t want to lose him when he signed with the Warriors a year ago, he will fit straight into their system and he’s a quality player who, at just 22, has his best years ahead of him. Also, because he came through Rhinos’ academy, only £50,000 of his wage will go on their salary cap, so it’s an excellent piece of business by Rhinos.

2: Miller time. Miller is available for Thursday’s game after serving a three match ban and his layoff might prove a blessing in disguise. Rhinos got through with maximum points and have had an opportunity to give rookie Fergus McCormack some valuable Super League game time.

The 20-year-old did a good job and proved his credentials as back-up full-back. As a bonus, Miller will be rested, refreshed and ready to go after four weeks off, including the Challenge Cup final break and his return will strengthen a winning team.

3: Prioritising youth. Recruitment for next year is on-going, but - as the Evening Post reported last week - Rhinos aren’t looking for a specialist stand-off to replace Warrington-bound Brodie Croft. Instead, they’ll give 19-year-old George Brown an opportunity to become their next number six.

Though signing a utility who can play stand-off is an option, Chris Hankinson and Jack Bird fit that bill and Gannon has done the job in the past, so strengthening the middle of the field is a bigger priority, along with retaining some youngsters on the fringe of the first team squad.

Like Wigan, Leeds are campaigning for a change to financial rules so clubs have a better chance of hanging on to home-grown players once they reach 21 or make their first team debut, which is when they come on to the salary cap. Leeds have around 10 youngsters training with the full-time squad who have yet to taste first team rugby and keeping as many of those as possible is high on sporting director Ian Blease’s to-do list.

4: About time. Nobody seems to know where the epithet came from, but Kevin Sinfield was knighted by Rhinos fans a long time before it was made official last week. The Sir Kev moniker began as a terrace song, became a popular movement and is now part of rugby league history.

It’s hard to think of anyone more deserving. As a uniquely successful captain and third-highest points scorer in the sport’s history, his achievements on the field would have led to honours sooner had he played a different sport.

Sadly, it took the tragedy of Rob Burrow’s illness for Sinfield to receive nationwide recognition, but his remarkable feats of endurance – raising multi-millions of pounds to support the motor neurone disease community - have highlighted what rugby league and Rhinos supporters in particular, have always known, that Sir Kev is the best of us. He deserves all the credit he’s finally getting.

5: Better than it looked. Rhinos were in total control for all but 15 minutes of their game at Toulouse. The fact the French side scored 24 unanswered points in that time took the gloss off what was actually a decent win.

Despite their lowly league position, Toulouse play some good rugby and have made a habit of dramatic fightbacks. Having gone from 30-0 up to just six points ahead, Leeds did well, in sweltering conditions, to stop the rot and run in three tries in the final quarter to make the game safe.

The fragility of their right-side defence is a worry and they’ll have to be better against Warrington, but there were more positives than negatives and if Jake Connor maintains his current form, Rhinos will be a threat against anyone.