Jack Ormondroyd keen to realise his potential at Leeds Rhinos

The talented forward is a latecomer to rugby league, not playing until he was 16, but has plenty of promise and is seen by head coach Brian McDermott as a work in progress.

Ormondroyd, 24, was a key member of the Championship side that reached the Qualifiers this season, scoring four tries from 30 appearances with part-timers Featherstone and playing against Leeds in August.

However, he will quit Post Office Road and his role as a community football coach with Bradford City to now join Rhinos full-time on a three-year deal and hopes to, eventually, make his mark in Super League.

“I’ve played alongside (Leeds players) Jordan Baldwinson, Anthony Mullally and Ashton Golding at Featherstone this year and they’ve all said how much I will enjoy it at Leeds and how good the set-up is,” he said.

“There have been a few examples in recent years of lads who have made the step up from the Championship and it gives players like me hope.”

Brought up in East Bierley, he supported Bradford Bulls as a child, his father having played more than 1oo games as a striker with the city’s football club.

Once he tried rugby league with Drighlington ARLFC he never looked back.

He trained briefly with Bradford before accepting Featherstone’s offer of a contract and established himself in the first-team last season.

At six foot five inches and weighing 17 stone he has obvious presence and McDermott, a rangy front-row himself, admitted: “It will be good to see Jack in our environment and see how he develops.”

Sheffield Eagles chief executive John Whaling has resigned after a “difference of opinion” with board members this week as the financially-stricken club continues its bid for survival.