Blake Austin’s contract extension at Leeds Rhinos has been hailed by team-mate Cameron Smith, who believes the Aussie can rekindle his old partnership with Aidan Sezer. Austin arrived at Headingley from Warrington Wolves during the winter and put pen to paper a one-year contract, which has now been extended to cover the 2023 campaign.
The move reunited him with former Canberra Raiders team-mate Sezer, who joined the Rhinos from Huddersfield Giants. The Australian duo enjoyed a successful period in the halves during the time together at the Raiders and Smith believes they can reprise that partnership in the blue and amber of Rohan Smith’s side.
Austin showed his quality during last Friday’s stunning 40-4 demolition of Warrington and Sezer is back in light training after almost two months out with a groin injury.
Read more: Aidan Sezer injury latest as Leeds Rhinos halfback closes in on return
“Keeping Blake for another season is great news for the club,” Smith told Rugby League Live. "In my time at Leeds, I’ve probably not played with anyone who can take the line on as well as he can.
“We struggled in the early rounds of the season in terms of combinations and Blake being able to express himself. But since Rohan has come in, we have implemented a bit of structure to our game along with the ad-lib side of the game that Blake is so good at, so you’ve seen what he’s got to offer in the past couple of weeks.
“Blake is a really big man with a tonne of speed and a tonne of footie smartness, so it’s really good for the club that he’s staying for next year. Hopefully he can knocking out these kind of performances because he’s doing great things for the team right now.”
As Sezer closes in on a return to action, along with highly-rated centre Harry Newman, Leeds are set to spoilt for choice in terms of attacking threats. Sezer is also on board at Headingley for next season and Smith added: “Blake and Seze could be a lethal partnership, especially with the history they’ve got together.
“They’re really good mates on the field and off it they spend a lot of time together. We need to get Seze back on the field first and foremost, so making sure he’s fit and well is the priority. From there, I’m sure the rest of it will take care of itself.”
Next up for Leeds is a trip to high-flying Huddersfield and Smith is expecting a clash of styles at the John Smith’s Stadium on Friday night. Ian Watson’s men narrowly lost the Challenge Cup final to Wigan Warriors but responded by winning at Catalans Dragons last weekend.
“Huddersfield probably deserved to lift the Challenge Cup for the way they played in most of that game,” said Smith. "They play really conservative rugby and a really hard team to break down, plus they take the chances which come their way.
“They have class players like Will Pryce and Chris McQueen, so we’ll have to be at our best to get a result. I think it’ll be a really good game for the fans.”
