Leigh Centurions' new signing Lee Smith has been there and done that in his illustrious career so far.

He's figured in a trio of Super League Grand Final successes for Leeds Rhinos, won the Harry Sunderland Trophy, played for England in the World Cup and in the Four Nations, made a crucial contribution to Wakefield's survival in the Middle 8s in 2015 and even played top flight union with Wasps and Newcastle.

But he admits he was "blown away" by Leigh Centurions and had no hesitation in penning a two-year deal earlier today.

"I've obviously played at Leigh Sports Village before and the stadium's brilliant," he said. "But I didn't realise what fantastic facilities there are behind the scenes. They are a Super League club ready to go up."

Smith met up with Owner Derek Beaumont and Head Coach Neil Jukes and had no doubts about stepping into the Kingstone Press Championship for the first time.

"They were both fantastic with me and it was not a difficult decision to make," he says. "It was great to hear their passion and desire for the Club to achieve things.

"At the moment the Championship is not well televised," he added. ""But I watched Leigh play in the Challenge Cup against Warrington on television last year and they were so entertaining. They do things that are fantastic to watch.

"When I played against them for Wakefield in the Middle 8s they scored a brilliant try from a scrum play and you just don't see things like that in Super League where territory is everything.

"I like the way they play and hopefully I'll get on the end of a few plays."

Smith will continue to live in Leeds and will travel over for training and matches in the 'Yorkshire bus' with Liam Kay and Greg Worthington. "I know Liam from Wakefield and he's done really well at Leigh," Smith says. "I'm really pleased for him as he's a great lad. I'm really enthusiastic about coming to Leigh and can't wait to get started.

"There's a real ambition here to get into Super League but also the people are realistic. If we get through the Championship we then face seven cup finals in the Middle 8s. It's a big step up to Super League but the experience of last year will stand the squad in good stead and since then they've strengthened by bringing in so many players with top level experience.

"It's a big learning curve for me. I've got to get used to my new team-mates and learn the plays and fit in with everyone. It's a big challenge moving clubs but I know what's needed and I will bring a lot to Leigh."

Smith also has another immediate goal- to reach a century of career tries. At the moment he's on 97, scored at an impressive strike rate of nearly one every two games. "I never even knew that," he said. "But I enjoy scoring tries and hopefully a few tries will follow once I start enjoying my rugby again."

He also brings the current list of internationals in the Leigh squad to 13- a full team. Indeed, with a bit of artistic licence here and there and a few positional changes you could pick the following Centurions International XIII: McNally; Smith, Maitua, Tonga, Pala; Chase, Beswick; Moimoi, Higham, Emmitt, Hansen, Hock, Barlow.

"That's pretty amazing for a Championship club isn't it?" says Smith.

For someone with such an honour-laden CV it's hard to imagine Smith is only 29 and critics will point out that his career has not kicked on since leaving Leeds, initially for Wasps.

"I had a purple patch at Leeds and played in a lot of big games," Smith says. "Since then I've been on a path I've chosen but I've not really settled into a club. I was maybe a bit young when I went to Wasps and when I went back to union at Newcastle I went to a struggling club and found it hard to get game time.

"I didn't want to drag my family all over the place and we made the decision to settle back in Leeds. I went to Hull for pre season training and for the past two months have really knuckled down and worked hard. I'd publicly like to thank Hull FC for giving me an opportunity to train with them and the time I spent with them was really good. Unfortunately they couldn't fit me into their salary cap.

"I'd also like to thank my agent, Karl Harrison. He's someone I've known for a long time and he was involved at Drighlington ARL when I played there. At one stage I was ready to look for jobs outside rugby but Karl kept faith with me and I owe him massively.

"I want to do well for Leigh Centurions, myself and for him."