Top tackler Cam Smith wants to nail down regular Leeds Rhinos role

Smith, 21, played the full 80 minutes, was the club’s official man of the match and one of the few positives from Leeds’ opening 30-4 defeat by Hull.

It was his 14th start for Rhinos - and 43rd first team appearance - and the England Knights man is keen to carry on from where he left off when Leeds visit Huddersfield Giants in two days’ time.

“You can train as much as you want, but I really want to play now,” Castleford-born Smith - who has been in and around the first team squad since 2016 - said.

“I am really determined and motivated this year to really put my foot down.

“It was good to get a start and I want to make that role my own.

“I want to build week on week and take each game as it comes.

“I am going to try as hard as I can and beat people in effort areas and do the best I can for the team.”

Stevie Ward is another option for the loose-forward position - and wears number 13 - while Adam Cuthbertson can also play there.

Smith earned his chance after impressing in pre-season wins over Wakefield Trinity and Bradford Bulls, but admitted the poor result took the gloss off last weekend.

“It is nice to have the personal accolades, but we want to win,” he said.

But he insisted Rhinos are capable of much better.

“I thought we were unlucky on some occasions,” he added.

“Some things didn’t go our way early on and they scored two breakaway tries, which can really sting you mentally.

“There’s a couple of things we can touch up, but I don’t think we need to panic.

“We are in a good spot and the beauty of rugby league is we can go again and correct what we did wrong.”

Rhinos made a solid start against Hull, but fell away after conceding the opening try, a kick-return from close to the visitors’ line.

Smith admitted they need to react better when things go against them.

He said: “You can work on a game plan and nail your game plan as much as you want, but when you are actually in the trenches and it’s tough, that’s when you have got to step up.

“That’s one thing we have got to start doing and I’m sure you’ll see that on Sunday.”

Huddersfield finished 10th last year, two places below Rhinos, but kicked off 2020 with an impressive 32-12 victory at Catalans Dragons.

Inspired by Aiden Sezer - half-back for Canberra Raiders in last year’s NRL Grand Final loss to Sydney Roosters - Giants could be the surprise package in Super League this term.

Rhinos won 44-0 there six months ago, but Smith warned: “I watched a bit of them against Wakefield in a pre-season friendly and they looked really good.

“It is a really tough comp’.

“No game will be taken lightly and obviously we’ll have to be on our best performance each week.

“I don’t think we’ll focus too specifically on what they are going to bring, it is what we bring and making sure we are 100 per cent every game.”