Leeds name three debutants in Boxing Day side with surprise captain
Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur
All three of Leeds Rhinos’ off-season recruits will make their unofficial debuts for the club next week in the Boxing Day showdown with Wakefield Trinity.
Brad Arthur has revealed the team that will contest the annual festive local derby with Daryl Powell’s Trinity, and it includes an exciting blend of both youth and experience.
Two players that are yet to make their first-team debuts for Leeds, half-back George Brown and winger Harley Thomas, have been given the opportunity to start in the game. Brown scored the winning try in last year’s Boxing Day match.
New arrival from Leigh Leopards, Ethan O’Neill, starts in the back row with Ben Littlewood too, with fellow new signings Jeremiah Mata’utia and Danny Levi coming off the bench.
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There is a surprise name at fullback, with Alfie Edgell getting the nod as the likes of Lachie Miller and Jake Connor get the first hit-out of the 2026 season off.
Max Simpson, Ned McCormack and Riley Lumb make up an entirely homegrown three-quarter line with the only player in the backline not an academy product, Chris Hankinson, given the honour of captaining Leeds for the game.
That is despite other senior players including Jarrod O’Connor and Keenan Palasia starting too, with Hankinson undoubtedly a surprise pick as skipper for the game.
Outside of Mata’utia and Levi, the remainder of Leeds’ bench is all academy products with the likes of Tom Nicholson-Watton featuring in Arthur’s interchanges along with a swell of players yet to make their official Super League debuts.
Leeds Rhinos team to face Wakefield: Alfie Edgell, Harley Thomas, Max Simpson, Ned McCormack, Riley Lumb, Chris Hankinson (c), George Brown, Tom Holroyd, Jarrod O’Connor, Cooper Jenkins, Ben Littlewood, Ethan O’Neill, Keenan Palasia. Interchange: Jeremiah Mata’utia, Danny Levi, Tom Nicholson-Watton, Marcus Qareqare, Oscar Brown, Jacob Hardy, Jacob Tooala, Harry Smith, Jacob Stead, Zak Lloyd, Olly Smart, Joe Diskin, Joe Butterfield.
