JACK Sinfield, son of rugby league legend Kevin, is one of three teenage prospects to be handed places in Leeds Rhinos’ first-team squad for the 2022 Betfred Super League season.
The 17-year-old Sinfield, a member of Saddleworth Rangers’ successful U16 side, has impressed in Rhinos’ academy along with Oli Field and Max Simpson.
Like scrum-half Sinfield, Field’s father Jamie is also a former Rhinos’ player.
And in another poignant move, former Saddleworth School pupil Sinfield has been awarded the number 32 jersey his record-breaking father wore for his Rhinos’ debut in 1997.
Rhinos’ head coach Richard Agar admitted the famous name will put extra pressure on the rookie scrum-half but stressed: “Internally it’s not something we talk about.
“We understand the natural comparisons. That’s going to happen, but when he’s with us he’s not Kevin’s son, he’s Jack and we take him on his merits.
“He is a super young player and a terrific young man, and we all know Kevin well enough to know he would not want Jack judging any other way.”
Agar confirmed: “Jack had plenty of opportunities both in league and union, but he really wants to play for Leeds in rugby league.
“He has got a terrific skill set and a terrific temperament.
“He is a genuine, on the ball number seven. He kicks the ball really well, he’s a natural striker of the ball and kicks it a long way.”
The crucial role he plays means Sinfield will not be rushed into first team action.
Agar said: “For half-backs coming into [the senior squad] the game is very different.
“It is probably a position that changes more than any other from when you are playing as a junior.
“It is very different when you are playing against organised, systematic defences; you still want all those traits and instinctive play, but you have to understand cause and effect and read numbers and triggers in defensive lines.
“It is very different from what he would have experienced at junior level.”
Rhinos have begun pre-season but before their first on-field training session, Sinfield had already been in to work with newly-signed half-backs Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin.
Agar said: “That will be good for Jack, working with some experienced players. He is a highly intelligent kid, with a terrific temperament.”
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