Why is he coming back? It seems odd given the RU world cup coming up.

It is not unusual for a youngster to learn and play for both a Union and a League club on different days, so he may have played some League earlier than 13 but I doubt earlier than five! But I am only going by what the lad said himself :

[iScotland U20 fly-half Callum McLelland[/i

Date of birth 16 September 1999 Born Pontefract, W Yorks Club Edinburgh Country Scotland Position Fly-half

[iHow did you get involved in rugby?[/i

"I first played union when I was five at Castleford and was there until I was 12. Then I decided to play league as there’s always contact and it’s the part of the game I enjoyed most."

[iTalk through your progress in league…[/i

"I was training with the Castleford Tigers development team from the age of 13. It was massive for me as where I’m from is heavily rugby league.

I played England U15s and U16s, and captained them. At my first England camp no one knew who I was, so to then be told I’d be captain was a massive achievement. Then I was with the Castleford pro team."

[iYou joined Edinburgh in November. Why the switch to union?[/i

"Because of the amount of avenues you can go down. Rugby union is massive in many countries whereas league is in England and Australia, with a couple of teams in New Zealand and France.

I’m still young and by making the switch now I can develop my skill-set. I want to test myself."

[iWhat’s been the biggest challenge?[/i

"Being away from home. Not having my family around is tough and I’m living on my own for the first time."


[urlhttps://www.rugbyworld.com/in-the-mag/hotshots/hotshot-scotland-u20-fly-half-callum-mclelland-91010[/url
[urlhttps://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/42142095[/url

I believe he is. Was in the LewisJones suite on Saturday, but then Leeds gave Luke gale and his old man a few free dinners and he did not come

In recent years, some of our less heralded signings have proved to be very successful. Let’s give the lad a chance. Hopefully he’ll perform well.

If we sign him, I'd say It's him and Myler in the halfs with Lolohea at centre.

By all accounts his girlfriend is not happy about him being away all the time.

Double post

I believe he has told people what they want to hear there.

At 5/6 he was playing mainly football and did so up until about 12 when he then went to play union on a Saturday. He was playing RL all this time.
I know this because my lad played in the same team and I know his dad very well.

I hope the lad is the real deal, no more ' project signings ' please. Corey Aston,Andy Yates, Ormondroyd etc, none of them worked out

I find it hard to be enthused by a young untested kid. I know running recruitment is about the long term as well as the short and you can't pass up opportunities when they arise but we need players who can walk into the first team and improve the quality.

Signing this kid does not do this so glad we are keeping an eye on the future of the club but how about some 1st team signings Leeds?

Playing devils advocate, the club have been roundly criticised for missing out on players like Hill and Walmsley. We did well out of Hardaker as a project signing.

I like the idea that he’s a half coming to put pressure on the others. We need that! I also believe we need at least two signings in the pack who are ready to go so I don’t dispute what you are saying.

I cant see him being signed to play first team half unless we are putting Lolohea at fullback. Surely we wouldnt go with two 19yo players (Walker at FB and this lad at half) in our starting spine - it would leave us too inexperienced in key positions imo.

This is my first thoughts.

From the highlights videos he looks like a class act. Maybe not ready to walk straight into the team, but looks like the sort of player we should be in for.

I don't know where people keep coming up with Lolohea as a centre. He's a 1/6 who can play on the wing. But we clearly haven't signed him to play on the wing. I expect he'll start at 6, and then it'll be up to Walker and this new kid to determine where he ends up. That sort of competition has been desperately lacking, to the point where we're now playing forwards at 6.

Lolohea is our new 6. I agree. Don't know why people want him anywhere else when we are crying out for a 6!

Confirmed on the club website this morning

Confirmed via the new fantastic what's app service they now offer.

Whilst I think this was 100% the way the plans were, I have a feeling you might be wrong for the start of next season.

...at 6.59am - maybe they sent it as an early morning pick-me-up to avoid me having to pay a ridiculous amount of money at the station for a coffee.

3 1/2 year deal apparently, although I think someone at Leeds needs to do some more work on their fractions

Shame we didn't get this done for the end of this season, would've been good to get him in playing against the lower league opponents.

It wouldn't susprise me if there's an element of risk-mitigation here regarding Lolohea. He wouldn't be the first Antipodean to come to the UK when his career was struggling in the NRL, only to want to be on the first flight back when his agent calls. Indeed, the club have been burnt before with Segeyaro.

Decent halves don't come on the market often. Having someone who can step into that role should there be an issue makes sense.

Judging by the video - it suggests he's starting straight away as they mention to him about getting some experience before pre-season - who knows, they might dump him in the deep end this weekend?

He can’t play this season he wasn’t registered in time.