Jackson Hastings targeted for Super League return with suitors revealed

Leeds Rhinos are weighing up a possible move to bring Jackson Hastings back to Super League, Love Rugby League has learned.

Hastings has been perpetually linked with a switch back to England ever since leaving the competition and returning to the NRL in 2022.

Furthermore, the player himself has emphatically refused to close the door on coming back to Super League at some stage in career – and that door now appears more ajar than ever.

Hastings has been frozen out at Newcastle Knights this year and appears unlikely to play for the club again. His current NRL contract expires at the end of this season, but the Knights are understood to be open to a departure even earlier than that, according to sources in Australia.

And Love Rugby League understands that the Rhinos are one of several clubs who are monitoring Hastings’ situation ahead of a possible move to sign him on what would be a significant, high-profile deal.

Leeds are unlikely to undergo a major off-season rebuild, but they still have a number of players off-contract. That includes Morgan Gannon, who is set to depart for the NRL and join New Zealand Warriors. Crucially, scrum-half Matt Frawley is also in that group.

Brodie Croft’s future comes into focus almost annually as reports in Australia link him with a move back to the NRL too, meaning there could yet be movement in the spine.

There is also uncertainty over Brad Arthur’s future; he has been reported as the number one choice to take charge of a new Perth-based franchise in the NRL.

But Hastings is a player of interest for the Rhinos as they look to the future, and with his deal up in the NRL at the end of this year, he could be lured back to Super League.

MORE RHINOS: Brad Arthur cools talk of Leeds exit as Perth links emphatically addressed