RHYSE MARTIN was very much part of the furniture at Leeds Rhinos when he decided to up sticks and leave after six years to join Hull KR.

Though Martin has been sidelined with injury for much of the 2025 Super League campaign, the second-rower has returned in recent weeks to be a key part of Rovers’ charge towards Old Trafford.

Reflecting on his time at Leeds, however, the 32-year-old only has fond memories of some “special moments”.

“There were some special moments, especially the Challenge Cup in 2020. It was a weird one being in the middle of Covid,” Martin said.

“That group of players that went through that and a lot of the current ones that are still there I still talk to now.

“The amount of personal accolades such as the goalkicking record were pretty special.

“You don’t really play the game for those but it’s nice to be recognised when you do hit those milestones.”

Asked why he decided to leave Headingley for Craven Park, Martin said: “It was about wanting to challenge myself and earn the respect of my teammates again.

“I was there for six years and I did think it was time for me to move on to challenge myself as a player and a person at a new team.

“For me personally, I needed that new challenge and had to find something different.”

That being said, the Rhinos have seemingly turned a corner under new head coach Brad Arthur and Martin spoke of nothing but admiration for the former Parramatta Eels boss.

“He brought the accountability from the players and the team had been asking for that,” he said.

“They wanted the challenge and the hard work mentality that everyone is seeing at the moment. They grind teams away and then they have the skill from the likes of Brodie Croft and Jake Connor.

“Brad brought the hard-nosed work ethic and then the skill-based rugby on top.”