Morgan Gannon is open to the idea of fully converting to halfback in the future after his surprise pre-season positional change. Leeds Rhinos coach Rohan Smith confirmed the teenager had been training in the position and featured in the spine during the Boxing Day defeat to Wakefield.
It's quite the change for Gannon, a back-rower by trade who last played in the halves while playing in the under 13s. That said, he scored and provided several neat touches in what was a promising, though by no means perfect, display in the role.
Gannon is now being educated on how to play in the halves and is splitting his time in training between the two roles. As it stands, the Halifax-born ace is open-minded about his new venture but believes it will benefit his game regardless.
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"After the first week of pre-season, Rohan asked about me giving it a go," he explained. "He spoke to Simon Bell and he said I used to play there when I was younger so it made a bit more sense for him to tell me. I've been training half and half between back-row and halves in the pre-season.
"When I was trying it, I found I was getting in and around the ball a lot more which I enjoyed, rather than being stuck on the edge. Just being able to float around and swing both sides, I enjoy that aspect. But there's the flexibility there with still playing in the back row.
"I wouldn't mind giving it a proper go. There will be chances to play back-row throughout the season and maybe the halves at some point. I want to keep open both options and eventually, it will make the decision for me really.
"They're different but even at back-row I want to get my hands on the ball as much as I can, but in the halves I have to get on every play whereas back-row I get a couple of plays off so far, that's the main difference."
On his Boxing Day performance, Gannon added: "It's the first time I've played it in a long time so first and foremost I just wanted to be a runner and off the back of that get through some passes and some technical areas like kicking, but I can work on that, I'm not too hung up on that.
"It's what I can offer to the team. As I get more comfortable the ball-playing will come but I made a few fewer tackles today so I had more energy with the ball which I enjoyed. I'm going to have to get working on my kicking!"
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