Jack Walker signs lucrative long-term deal with Leeds
Jack Walker has signed a new five-year contract with Leeds, keeping him at the club until at least the end of 2023.
The 19-year-old became the youngest player to lift the Super League trophy back in 2017, aged 18 and 60 days, when he helped the Rhinos defeat Castleford.
Walker – who toured Papua New Guinea with the England Knights last autumn – was handed the No. 1 shirt at Leeds ahead of the 2019 season.
Rhinos director of rugby Kevin Sinfield said: “Jack is one of the most exciting talents in our game and I am delighted he has committed his long-term future to the Rhinos.
“The club have shown a great deal of faith in Jack throughout his time here and I am confident he can continue to develop and progress in the years ahead.
“We have an exciting crop of young players at the club, both in the first-team set up and in the academy ranks.
“The average age of the team at the Magic Weekend was just 24 with no player over 30 plus we also have eight members of the England Academy side that beat the Australian Schoolboys last December on our books, so the future is bright.”
Walker added: “We have been chatting about a new deal for a while and I am pleased we have come to an agreement now.
“We have got a great group of players coming through the club and even some of the senior players in the first-team like Liam Sutcliffe and Ash Handley are still only young, despite the amount of games they have already played.
“It is a great club and I am looking forward to the future. We have achieved some great things in the past and hopefully we can emulate that as a group. Kevin Sinfield has been great with me; he talks about us developing a winning mentality.
“It will take time as we build up game time together but, when we gel, I think we will be a formidable team in the years ahead. I played with a lot of these guys at academy level and that will make it special when things do click for us and we start winning some games.”
More on site
Hull KR confirm departure of Tim Sheens