'The best crowd I've played in front of': Leeds Rhinos' James McDonnell hails fans ahead of Hull FC clash

McDonnell made his debut in Rhinos’ win away to St Helens at the start of last month - after Morgan Gannon was ruled out through concussion - and has played in all five games since, scoring in the last two.

“I am really happy,” the 23-year-old Ireland international said of his first sustained run in the top-flight.

“It’s good to finally get some consistent game time and I feel like I am building on the back of each performance and improving every week. Really the only goal at the minute is to keep doing so.”

McDonnell’s Wigan debut came three years ago, when he made a single appearance. He played twice the following season and three times last term.

He also had a seven-game spell on loan at York City Knights in 2021 and played 17 times with Leigh Centurions in a similar arrangement last year.

He made it clear when he joined Leeds he was at the club to play first team rugby and insisted he is “not entirely” surprised to have made half a dozen appearances so quickly.

“I was pushing to be playing round one, but that wasn’t what we went with,” he recalled. “That was fine by me, I knew my opportunity would come and it did sooner than expected with Morgan’s injury and the prolonged recovery he is going through, but I had been keeping myself ready for it.”

McDonnell has made 181 tackles so far, including 42 in the defeat at Hull KR two weeks ago and admitted he bases his game on a high work rate.

“Especially this year,” he said. “Coming into a new team, with a lot of moving parts already implemented, I just need to concentrate on my defence.

“That’s one thing you can handle yourself. I have come in and tried to make it my own and work well with my edge, which has been a bit makeshift.

“It has been different for the last few weeks, but the non-negotiables are what I really try and pride myself on.”

The tries have been a bonus. His first, at Hull KR, proved in vain, but it was McDonnell’s touchdown which began Rhinos’ match-winning second-half surge against Huddersfield Giants last Sunday.

“It is always nice to get over,” he said. “Hopefully I can keep that up. That is something I have always wanted to be, a strike edge player and a try scorer. That’s something I have been working on and hopefully it is coming through a little bit.”

From a team perspective, McDonnell reckons the challenge at home to Hull FC on Friday is to kick on from the 18-17 win over Giants.

“We have been a bit inconsistent in terms of performances,” he conceded. “I think [last week] was a really good game, that we needed.

“We had to go down to the last minute to get the win and really grind it out and, once we got in front, keep the lead and play smart.

“Everyone was blowing at the end and that’s really good, to test your tank and make sure you can do that. It’s what we’ll need, especially late in the season.”

Having been behind at half-time in seven of their eight fixtures so far, Rhinos will be targeting a stronger start.

“It’s not as if there’s lack of effort there,” McDonnell reflected. “I am not sure what it is, but we need to start with the energy we’ve been showing in the second-half.

“Most times we’ve been trailing and that’s extra motivation, but we need to find that spark to start games like that and do it for the full 80 minutes.”

Being back at Headingley for a second successive game will be important for Leeds and McDonnell. He added: “It is really good to get a few games at Headingley. It is probably the best atmosphere, the best crowd, I have played in front of.

“The fans are loud, they are unreal and really supportive. I met a few of them after [Sunday’s] game and they’ve been really welcoming. It is great, I am really enjoying it.”

McDonnell didn’t play when Leeds were beaten 22-18 by Hull at Headingley in round two. The Black and Whites have lost all their six games since and he predicted: “I can imagine they’ll be getting really up for this game.

“They played well that night and we didn’t, so we owe them one. There’s going to be no excuses not to be up for this one.”