Leeds Rhinos recruitment update as new signing suffers injury blow
Will Leeds Rhinos dip into the recruitment market again?
Brad Arthur has not ruled out more new signings at Leeds Rhinos this season – as overseas import Ethan Clark-Wood looks set for a spell on the sidelines.
The Rhinos have signed both Clark-Wood and Kallum Watkins since being rocked by the news that Maika Sivo would be out for the entirety of the 2025 season.
Clark-Wood joined from Australia, before Watkins returned to AMT Headingley this week on a deal until the end of the current campaign.
But Arthur has refused to state that will be it for Leeds’ incomings this year, leaving the door ajar for at least one more recruit through the door.
“I think Bleasey [Ian Blease] might still have a little bit left there in the cap, as any good club does,” Arthur told Love Rugby League this week.
“As any good club does, he is being patient with it, but if there’s ways we can improve the squad we will continue to do that, whether it be for this year or next year.
“That’s the sign of a club that wants to do well, but he is being very strategic in what we want to do in recruitment. We’re not going to get blokes for the sake of it, it has to be with a view to helping us now, but long-term as well.”
But Clark-Wood seems set for a spell on the sidelines having picked up an ankle injury during a recent reserves match.
Arthur revealed: “In the last minute of the reserves game, scoring a try, he got put in an awkward position and he has got a syndesmosis. It wasn’t a major one, but it is a five to six-week injury. It is a shame.”
The Rhinos travel to Salford on Thursday evening – but they will be without new signing Watkins, after it was agreed he would not feature prior to his switch from Salford.
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