Leeds Rhinos have put faith in youngster Ashton Golding, after handing the youngster the number one jersey.
Golding made 14 appearances for the Rhinos last season, impressing under Brian McDermott in the club’s disappointing season. He takes the jersey from Zak Hardaker, who has not been assigned a squad number ahead of his expected departure from the club.
New signings Cory Aston and Jack Ormondroyd are awarded the numbers 26 and 23 respectively while James Segeyaro will wear the number nine shirt in 2017. Brett Ferres moves from 26 to 19, replacing Mitch Achurch.
Head coach Brian McDermott said: “One of the aspects we looked at from last season was the size of our full time squad. We have decided to expand that group for 2017, this will have an impact on the numbers we can work with on a day to day basis during the season. Ashton has been given the opportunity to make the number one shirt his own long term and I look forward to seeing how he develops next season.
“Cameron Smith, Mikolaj Oledzki and Josh Jordan-Roberts all still qualify to play Under 19s rugby whilst our partnership with Featherstone Rovers will allow us to give players not involved with the first team on a week to week basis, the chance to play on dual registration if necessary,” added McDermott.
The squad in full is:
1. Ashton Golding
2. Tom Briscoe
3. Kallum Watkins
4. Joel Moon
5. Ryan Hall
6. Danny McGuire
7. Rob Burrow
8. Keith Galloway
9. James Segeyaro
10. Adam Cuthbertson
11. Jamie Jones-Buchanan
12. Carl Ablett
13. Stevie Ward
14. Liam Sutcliffe
15. Brett Delaney
16. Brad Singleton
17. Mitch Garbutt
18. Jimmy Keinhorst
19. Brett Ferres
20. Anthony Mullally
21. Josh Walters
22. Ash Handley
23. Jack Ormondroyd
24. Jordan Baldwinson
25. Jordan Lilley
26. Cory Aston
27. Cameron Smith
28. Mikolaj Oledzki
29. Josh Jordan-Roberts
30. Sam Hallas
