View from the pitch: Callum McLelland – Why I’m excited by personal prospects and wider goals at Leeds Rhinos

Just being around the team on a matchday is good experience and, if I get the opportunity, I have to make sure I grab it with both hands.

That was the plan last week when I was with Featherstone for the game in Toulouse.

I was due to play, but the paperwork wasn’t cleared in time.

It wasn’t until late on Friday that I found out, after we had travelled to France.

It was disappointing, but it’s just one of those things. As a young player you are going to face a lot of challenges, so you’ve just got to take it week by week. I’m looking forward to getting another chance with Fev as soon as possible.

I haven’t played against men yet and I think that’s one of the reasons why I haven’t played for Leeds so far.

The coaching staff want to see what I can do against men and obviously it will give them a lot of confidence in me if I can defend strongly and play well at that level.

That’s the big challenge for me. From our under-19s this year a lot of players are out on loan or dual-reg and that’s the best way to gain experience.

It is going pretty well for the 19s even though we have been without some of our best players.

We are unbeaten so far, I have played in three of the five games and we have been going really well.

All the young boys who are in their first year have really stepped up and there’s a lot of talent in the group. Three players from the academy in tonight’s squad to play Workington shows that.

The academy is about piecing everything together and picking up all the little details so the young players are ready when they do make that step up. Talent can only get you so far; it is about all the hard work that goes in behind it.

I am really enjoying working with Rob Burrow. He is a legend of the game, but really down to earth.

He knows what it’s like playing at the highest level and it is great to learn little bits off him. For me, having a half-back as a coach is a bonus. At Castleford I had three half-backs as coaches so I have been lucky enough to be coached by really talented people.

I am also training with the first team so I am learning a lot from Dave Furner, as well as the other halves here.

We go up against each other in training and I really enjoy that. You want to test yourself against the best and it is going to help me progress as a player

The big aim for me is to get some first-team games for Rhinos. I hope I am not too far off and everything Jake Trueman has achieved for Cas shows what can be done.

I am big mates with Jake and I am chuffed to bits for him. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing how well he is doing but, at the same time, that is what I want to aspire to and be like in the next few seasons.

As a team we are all sticking together. Obviously, it is a tough time for the club, but we will definitely come out better for it.

We can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel.

There are some promising signs and it’s just a matter of putting them all together.

Eight of us played for England under-19s against the Aussies last year so that shows how much potential there is at Leeds.

I don’t think people should lose faith in the club.

It is hard going through this, but our young nucleus is outstanding and I think it is really exciting times.