09 January 2024 , 10:02
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James Donaldson admits Leeds Rhinos weren’t hungry enough last season but their appetite’s back in 2024.
The experienced forward hopes to help lead the charge when they kick off the new Super League campaign next month. Eight-times champions Rhinos were badly off the pace last time out, finishing a disappointing eighth. But Donaldson reckons signings, such as ex-Man of Steel Brodie Croft and England hooker Andy Ackers from Salford, will transform their fortunes.
He said: “There were a lot of games last year when we weren’t hungry enough. We’d 14 players off contract and that makes things tough. We lost games by a couple of scores but now we’ve got that strike and experience to put us in the situations we want to be in with threats right across the park. I can only see a definite improved season.”
Donaldson, 32, is in the middle of a three-month testimonial from the RFL for his services to rugby league. Leeds entertain his former club Hull KR in his benefit game on Sunday February 4, their final warm-up before a Super League kick-off against Salford. The likeable Cumbrian has made more than 250 career appearances since debuting for Bradford in 2009.
The England Schoolboys international was the best young player in his age group when turning down the likes of Wigan, Warrington and Leeds to sign for the Bulls aged 16. But Donaldson, renowned for his work rate and energy, has since overcome plenty of adversity along the way including THREE knee reconstructions. He feared his career was over in 2018 when left without a club after KR ditched him.
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But Donaldson earned a trial with Rhinos and never looked back, going on to win a Challenge Cup and play in a Grand Final. On his career so far, he admitted: “It’s been a rollercoaster. And there’s probably been more downs than ups. But I’ve had more success at the back end of my career than I did earlier, trying to get back to the expectations that were had of me.
Leeds Rhinos' James Donaldson (PA)“I never reached them but trying to stay on track, I suppose, is what it’s been about. It’s not been about trying to be the best player in the world as that was never going to be after what I’d been through. It was about trying to get my career back on track and keeping my Super League dream alive.”
He could easily have quit, especially after his brother Craig was left paralysed following a tragic accident on the family farm. But Donaldson insisted: “No, I never did [contemplate that]. Because I knew, not just with that but a few other family problems we’ve had over the years with things like illness, that my career put a smile on their faces.”