Leeds Rhinos second row James McDonnell cannot wait to line up alongside new signing Brodie Croft when the 2024 Betfred Super League season gets under way; Watch every match of the 2024 Super League season live on Sky Sports
Tuesday 13 February 2024 16:21, UK
It is difficult to imagine anyone associated with Leeds Rhinos who was not excited by the signing of Brodie Croft ahead of the 2024 Betfred Super League season, although there were perhaps few more than his now team-mate James McDonnell.
As soon as the initial rumours started swirling that the 2022 Man of Steel would be swapping Salford Red Devils for Leeds, second row McDonnell was hoping the transfer would come to pass so he could benefit from the half-back's attacking tendencies.
Croft, whose move to Leeds along with fellow Red Devil Andy Ackers was confirmed last October, is set to make his Rhinos Super League debut against his former club in their season opener this Friday and while injury means McDonnell will not be playing, he cannot wait to be part of the same team.
"When the speculation was going around, I was thinking 'I hope we get him' because it would be a dream to play outside him," McDonnell told Sky Sports. "He's such an attack half-back you follow where he goes, and you won't go too far wrong.
"We're very expansive as a team - we like to play and throw the ball around. It's there to exploit opportunities and space, and I think the squad we've got can be a real attacking threat.
"Obviously, it comes off the back of a lot of defence and the effort areas, which is what I prioritise my game on, but playing on the edge with Brodie, and Harry Newman outside of me and maybe [David] Fusitu'a on the wing, that's not a bad edge and I'm proud to be a part of it."
McDonnell is entering his second season in a Rhinos shirt, having made the difficult decision to leave hometown club Wigan Warriors at the end of the 2022 campaign and cross the Pennines seeking more game time.
The 24-year-old could be forgiven if he were slightly jealous to see the Warriors storm to Super League Grand Final glory while Leeds finished four points off the play-offs a year after being runners-up at Old Trafford, but he could not be happier after making 24 appearances last year.
"When I was leaving Wigan, it was a tough decision," McDonnell said. "There was a bit of looking around and uncertainty about what I'd do.
"I had the security to stay at Wigan and try to bide my time, but I felt like I was at a point in my career where I had to take that step to get out of my comfort zone.
"Once the offer came from Leeds, I felt like that was a really good place to try to get to that next level."
We really push each other to go and do something this year, and there is a really good feeling we can make something with this group.
McDonnell credits Rhinos head coach Rohan Smith for the progress he has made as a player in the past 12 months, not only by entrusting him with plenty of minutes on the field but also through his approach to getting the best out of individuals.
"He challenges me to think on a different level as opposed to maybe being 100 per cent aggressive in the tackle," McDonnell said. "He makes me see the game differently and has really adapted my game to the next level.
"It exposes me to think differently, to solve problems differently to how I usually would. I'm definitely more of a technical player than I used to be, and I look at the game a different way now, especially when I'm watching it and reviewing my own game.
"I can see the quick fixes and some things I need to work on to progress, and that's something he demands we take on ourselves, working on our craft individually along with a whole. What he brings is really beneficial to me."
Last year's disappointment has served to ratchet up the pressure on Smith and his players to deliver silverware to Headingley in 2024, with the Rhinos' last major honour being the Challenge Cup triumph of 2020 and their most recent of eight Super League titles coming three years prior to that.
But with Croft and Ackers, plus former NRL trio Paul Momirovski, Matt Frawley and Lachie Miller among the new recruits who have come on board to strengthen the squad, and the negative factors which affected last year's performances behind them, McDonnell is confident around what 2024 has in store.
"We aim for silverware every year," McDonnell said. "Even last year when the play-offs were a bit of a hope, we didn't give up hope and played to the very end but came up short.
"That's something I really don't want to do again, but we really push each other to go and do something this year, and there is a really good feeling we can make something with this group.
"I think we owe it to ourselves and our fans to really show it this year."
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Watch Leeds Rhinos host Salford Red Devils in their opening Betfred Super League match of 2024 live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Main Event from 7.30pm on Friday, February 16 (8pm kick-off). Also stream contract-free with NOW.
