How Kallum Watkins revealed his leadership qualities in Leeds Rhinos' darkest times

The 26-year-old England centre is Leeds’ seventh captain of the summer era, which began in 1996, and has a hard act to follow after the success of seven-time Grand Final winner Kevin Sinfield and Danny McGuire, who lifted the Betfred Super League trophy at Old Trafford last October.

Watkins, though, has 224 first-team appearances under his belt, has won every available domestic honour and is a player in form after his performances for England in the World Cup and Leeds last season.

Despite that success in big games, McDermott feels Watkins really underlined his qualities when Leeds suffered a disastrous reversal of fortunes in 2016.

The previous year’s treble-winners found themselves dragged into a relegation battle in the middle-eights Qualifiers, but Watkins played every minute of every game and was the club’s top try scorer, with 18.

Explaining his reasoning, McDermott said: “The captaincy of this great club is a big task.

“When you look across our group, whilst there are those who have leadership qualities, Kallum is a fantastic candidate who has stood up to be counted over the last 18 months and was an obvious choice for 2018.

“When I told the group that Kallum would be our new captain, the squad were really happy and confident that Kallum will get the job done.

“The Leeds captaincy is not an issue many Leeds coaches have had to deal with down the years because of the long and outstanding leadership that Kevin Sinfield provided us with.

“His record speaks for itself, but I would also pay tribute to the job Danny McGuire did in the last two years.

“Being the next captain after Kevin was always going to be a sizeable task, but Danny handled it magnificently on all occasions.

“Kallum has emerged under those two inspirational leaders and he showed his best when things were at their hardest. That is why I had no hesitation in making him our captain for 2018 and I know he will lead our team with distinction.”

Watkins, who made his Leeds debut 10 years ago, described his appointment as a “massive honour and a real privilege” and said he believes it will make him a better player.

“I have learned from the best and I have gained a lot of experience from the big games I have been involved in,” said Watkins.

“Being a leader was probably not something that came to me naturally initially, but it is something I have grown into and now relish.

“I feel I have earned that by being myself. I think being captain will make me stronger.”

Leeds begin their title defence away to Warrington Wolves in 15 days’ time.

Hull KR’s versatile forward Danny Addy is set to miss the whole of the 2018 Super League season with a serious knee injury.

The Scotland international had to be helped off the pitch after suffering the problem in the 23rd minute of the Robins’ 34-26 pre-season win at Hull FC on Sunday.

The club confirmed the former Bradford Bulls player would be “out long term with a complex knee injury” following scans on Monday, just two weeks before their opener against Wakefield.