03 August 2023 , 18:52
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There could be plenty of Mikolaj Oledzki’s Leeds team-mates thinking twice about taking him on in the wrestling stakes.
The England prop is formidable enough as one of Super League’s most powerful forwards. But after attending the recent UFC event in London, as a VIP guest of rugby league’s strategic partners IMG, he’s picked up extra tips. Impressed Oledzki watched mixed martial arts stars Tom Aspinall and Molly McCann and admitted: “It was an amazing experience to see the UFC up close.
“You probably don’t appreciate it as much watching on TV as you do when you see it for real. They go in and try to do each other with their bare hands, basically trying to knock each other unconscious. It’s crazy to see the kind of mindset they must try and get themselves in to perform. Watching them grappling in the octagon you realise the small margins that decide bouts.
"Some of it can be transferred across to rugby when we wrestle; you can put yourself in that situation on the field when you’re on the floor and trying to win a tackle. Obviously, the mindset is completely different to what we go through. But at Rhinos, Jarrod (O’Connor) does fancy himself as a grappler as does Corey (Johnson). So when I came back after seeing the UFC I thought I’d wait until they weren’t expecting it - and try a few things on them!”
Oledzki, 24, attended with Leeds team-mate Harry Newman as part of IMG’S strategy to raise rugby league’s profile. Cross-sport promotion is seen as one way of doing that, the global sports management company also inviting a raft of Warrington and Salford players along to The Open after England captain George Williams attended Wimbledon. Rugby league players have not tended to have a national profile since the 1980s when Ellery Hanley, Shaun Edwards, Martin Offiah and Garry Schofield were prominent.
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Oledzki added: “We got to sit with some big celebrities, got to know a few people and create some contacts, hopefully helping get more people to games. People were asking me and Harry what we do and they were curious about the sport. That’s great as, especially down south, the’ve probably not heard of rugby league.”
Leeds Rhinos' Mikolaj Oledzki in action at Magic Weekend (Getty Images)But Oledzki knows his side - who host Challenge Cup finalists Leigh on Sunday - face a fight to reach the play-offs. Last season’s beaten Grand Finalists are four points adrift of the top-six after Friday’s 22-18 loss at champions St Helens. He said: “Every game’s massive for us. We’ve seven to go so it’s not too late to push for the play-offs but we also do know time is slowly running out.
“Leigh are a tough team to play: they defend tough, attack fast and have a great balance so it will be a big challenge but we’ll fix a few things up.”