Leeds Rhinos transfer priorities ranked following Brad Arthur recruitment admission

Leeds Rhinos are once again set to hit the transfer market for 2027, with Brad Arthur keen to add further depth to his squad after penning a long-term deal at the club. 

The Headingley side have seen a number of front-line names agree moves elsewhere at the end of the season, with Cameron Smith and Brodie Croft heading to Super League rivals Wakefield Trinity and Warrington Wolves, respectively, while Harry Newman, Mikolaj Oledzki and James McDonnell swapping West Yorkshire for Western Australia after signing for NRL expansion side Perth Bears, and at the time of writing have only added Jack Bird to their ranks, with the centre already in place at the club.

But, that doesn’t mean they aren’t actively looking for new recruits, with Arthur detailing sporting director Ian Blease has been busy building a squd behind the scenes.

“Bleasey (Ian Blease) is chipping away in the background and I think people will be surprised by our squad,” he said. “We’ve added depth to it and the boys are performing at a good level.”

A big talking point would be if they were going to recruit a new half-back to replace Wire-bound Croft, but Arthur insists they will back young hotshot George Brown and look elsewhere.

“We’ve given him the guarantee that he’ll have every opportunity to make sure he’s wearing that six jersey,” he detailed.We’re putting all our faith in him and we’ve given him the chance to be in that six jersey.

“We’re looking at other positions and we’re backing George (Brown) and what we want to do is make sure we look at strengthening our right edge to help George. Harry (Newman) is going but we’ve got Jack Bird there.”

But, which positions should they be targeting ahead of 2027? Well, here’s our take on just that.

Middles

The use of this sweeping term is very deliberate, with Leeds likely needing a general middle-unit player to cover both prop and loose forward.

Arthur has used the middle as more of a fluid unit in his time at Headingley, be it two props and a ball-playing 13 like Smith or Kallum Watkins or just three smash-and-bash options in a rotation, which creates an interesting dynamic when thinking about how they can bulk out their pack.

Royce Hunt is heavily tipped with a switch to West Yorkshire for next season, but with him likely the direct replacement for Oledzki, there is still plenty of space for an extra body in the depth chart. The head coach is also quite keen on rotation within his middle unit, too, and having a new face come in would only aid that.

Want more Love Rugby League? Add us as a preferred source on Google and ensure you never miss our exclusives and breaking news!

It’s an interesting one.

Back-row

This would likely be more of a depth option with Morgan Gannon expected to return to Headingley next season, but it makes sense.

Chris Hankinson has excelled in this position in 2026, and the versatile Watkins and Ethan O’Neill are also options here, but with only one of those players an out-and-out back-rower, it could be a smart play for Arthur just to properly bulk out his depth chart.

The head coach has also teased that he is looking for some further edge options as well, to sit around youngster Brown, which plays itself into the addition of another back-rower.

Wing

This one all depends on Ryan Hall, really. If he wants to go around again, Leeds are pretty set, but if he does decide to retire, then they will need an extra body in here.

Ash Handley might have been the leading option to move back out wide, but has really kicked on at centre this season and seems to have made that his home, and while Riley Lumb and Alfie Edgell remain options, Arthur’s system calls for a bigger ball-carrying winger like Hall or Maika Sivo.

Be it to truck it out of the backfield and get Leeds back on the front-foot or to add punch and strike close to the try line, Leeds’ first port of call anywhere inside the respective 10-metre areas is usually their wingers, and having a smash-and-bash option suits their system perfectly.

Arthur hasn’t been afraid to back his younger options, just look at the backing he’s already given Brown for example, so he could just look to promote either Lumb or Edgell, but it’s an area he could also look to strengthen via the transfer market should something come up.

WATCH THE NEW EPISODE OF THE LRL PODCAST!