Ian Blease provides Leeds Rhinos recruitment latest amid key salary cap factor

Leeds Rhinos’ Sporting Director Ian Blease is comfortable with the club’s current recruitment position for 2027 after key meetings in Las Vegas last week.

The Rhinos are preparing for changes to their squad next year, with a number of key players already announced to be departing. James McDonnell and Harry Newman are heading to Perth Bears while Cameron Smith will join Wakefield Trinity.

It leaves the Rhinos with work to do but Blease is happy with the club’s current position, with work ongoing behind the scenes.

“We’re comfortable,” Blease told Love Rugby League. “We‘ve had a good recruitment meeting with Brad and we talked about a few things, there are a few options on players coming and we’ve got some of our younger players coming on cap too that haven’t been announced yet.

“That’s nothing to be majorly concerned about but it’s naturally a progression of young players coming on to our cap, we’ve got to leave room for them because if they’re going to be good enough; we’re going to have more debutants this year, that will be great for the club and I’ve got to leave a bit of room for them.”

Blease used his time in Vegas to meet up with key figures in the recruitment world from overseas, with Sin City acting as the epicentre of the rugby league universe for a week. It comes after a previous visit to Australia in the off-season.

“I’ve said to you before, it’s ongoing, it’s 24 hours a day. I’ve already met the clubs over here. I’m always busy doing that sort of stuff. It’s a great occasion when everyone is together, you can share some discussion topics and matters.

“When we came in December, I went to Australia and visited clubs I’ve built relationships with, so it’s going well on that front.”