Muizz Mustapha looks set to become the latest player whose future lies away from Leeds Rhinos beyond this season. The prop made a big impact in last weekend's win over Wigan Warriors, barrelling over for a try in the closing stages, a moment which left coach Rohan Smith beaming in the Headingley stands.
But Smith confirmed on Wednesday that, along with hooker Brad Dwyer, Mustapha has not been offered a new contract beyond the expiry of his existing one, which runs to the end of the current Super League season. It means that come November, Mustapha will be on the hunt for a new club.
"We haven't made Muzzy an offer," Smith confirmed. "He's free to explore his options there. It's always a moving thing the roster, but at this point we haven't made him an offer." When pushed on whether Leeds could change their minds if Mustapha continues to perform in the manner he did last week however, Smith was coy.
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He simply said: "The roster is always a moving article. I'm not going to speculate about people here until there's something to offer you that's a bit more concrete."
News of Mustapha's likely Leeds departure comes in the same week the Rhinos confirmed the addition of forward James McDonnell from Wigan. He is the second player to be confirmed to joining the club in 2023 alongside Toulouse forward Justin Sangare, and Smith admits there is a conscious effort to recruit players in a particular age bracket for the long-term future of the club.
"I think it's the right mix for our group," he said of the business Leeds have conducted thus far. "We've got a lot of experienced players at the back end, not that they're close to retiring, but they're 30-plus.
"We need some people in the middle and the lower end; some of the young players in our squad are 17 and 18 and that's too young to be expecting them to play every week in Super League. That age group of around 22 is somewhere where we have a gap in our roster so that's been part of our process."
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