Stevie Ward’s relishing the competition for places at Leeds Rhinos

Ward, who made his debut in 2012 and is a two-time Grand Final winner, reckons he will have to be at his best to hold down a regular spot in 2020.

Second-row/loose-forward Alex Mellor has joined Rhinos from Huddersfield Giants and adds to some impressive depth in that area of the pack.

Though Carl Ablett – who did not play last term due to injury – and Jamie Jones-Buchanan have retired and Brett Ferres has joined Featherstone Rovers, Ward will be battling for a place with Trent Merrin, Liam Sutcliffe, James Donalson, Rhyse Martin, Cameron Smith and Mellor, as well as youngsters including Owen Trout who got his first taste of senior action last year.

Mellor was trainer of the week last week – the first of pre-season – and Ward confirmed the former Bradford Bulls man has made a positive impression on his new team-mates.

“He has got big raps from the lads,” Ward said. “There’s some competition in the back-row.

“Rhyse isn’t even back from Papua New Guinea yet and Alex Mellor is really firing on tests.

“There’s some really healthy competition and it’s a good set of lads to do it with.

“We all push each other.”

More players began training this week and Ward reckons the squad is looking in good shape.

“Some boys have been training well,” he said. “Some of the England Knights lads have come in this week, Cam Smith and Mikolaj [Oledzki] have really got stuck in so it has been good.”

A long-term knee injury restricted Ward to just six appearances last season and cost him a place on Great Britain Lions’ southern hemisphere tour.

But the 25-year-old has been in from day one of pre-season and says he is relishing the hard work to come before Rhinos begin their Betfred Super League campaign at home to Hull on Sunday, February 2.

“It’s good to be back and we’ve got a nice long pre-season ahead of us,” he said.

“We’ve got some time to get some stuff done, take it back to basics and work together.

“We have got a big pre-season, a lot of games, so I am easing my way into it and ticking every box.

“I am excited about it, I am approaching it to get everything done, get my recovery right and tick off every recovery point to make sure I am doing everything at my end. I am gunning for a big year.”

Having drawn a line under the disappointment of last season, Ward is in high spirits.

“I am always feeling good about things when I am fit and playing well and training with the boys,” he said. “It is good, it is nice to be involved and to see some new things we have been doing.”

Ward started Leeds opening four matches of 2019 before being injured against St Helens in February. After two operations, he returned for the final two games, but suffered a hamstring problem against Warrington Wolves two months ago. He confirmed that has now cleared up and stressed there have been no ill-effects.

“It’s sound,” he said. “I had a really big day on Monday, I did about 10k and really put myself through my paces and it went well.”