Opportunity knocks at Leeds Rhinos for Alex Sutcliffe
The 20-year-old has made only two senior appearances for Rhinos, in three seasons as part of the senior squad, but underlined his potential during a dual-registration stint with Featherstone Rovers in 2019.
Sutcliffe, no relation to Rhinos namesake Liam, made his debut in a Super League defeat at Wigan Warriors in July, 2017. He continued in the full-time squad the following year, but was sidelined by injury for much of the campaign and did not feature.
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Hide AdLast season he played only once for Rhinos, as a substitute in the crucial Magic Weekend win over London Broncos at Anfield, but the club’s partnership with Featherstone Rovers gave him an opportunity to gain much-needed first team game time. Sutcliffe scored 16 tries in 19 appearances for Rovers, was a member of their team beaten at Toronto Wolfpack in the Betfred Championship Grand Final and impressed his coaches both there and at Leeds.
“That’s one of my main aims now, to keep doing as I was at Fev and progress on,” Sutcliffe said of his hopes for the new season. “I think I am a miles better player than I was this time last year. I think my attack and my D (defence) have come on leaps and bounds, being under Rich (Agar, Rhinos’ coach) and Ryan Carr at Fev.”
Sutcliffe was handed a surprise chance to stake a claim when Rhinos began their pre-season campaign with a 30-4 win over Wakefield Trinity on Boxing Day.
The Oulton Raiders product expected to be among the substitutes for the Christmas fixture, but was promoted into the starting line-up after Alex Mellor was injured in Leeds’ final training session. More at home as a centre, he played the full 80 minutes out of position in the second-row and was among Rhinos’ try scorers.
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Hide AdWith winger Tom Briscoe still on the casualty list following a knee reconstruction and his brother Luke also sidelined, Agar selected Harry Newman on the right-wing with Liam Sutcliffe at centre. If two of Leeds’ three specialist wingers are still unavailable at the start of the season, that could open the door for Alex Sutcliffe.
He said: “Rich said at the start of the year it’s an opportunity for me and I’ve got to take it - if you are doing well and you’re performing there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get in.
“There’s a few centres in front of me, but I’ve just got to challenge them. It’s healthy competition for Harry, Konny (Konrad Hurrell) and Sutty.”
Alex Sutcliffe felt he made a good impression in the Christmas game. He recalled: “I was really happy.
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Hide Ad“I didn’t expect to play the full game, but I was happy with my minutes and happy with how I played, especially as I haven’t played back-row for about two years now and I played centre at Fev.
“One of my main aims was my D, not to let any tries in through me and do my systems and everything like that, so I was really pleased.”