Leeds full-back Luke Hooley makes Championship loan move

Leeds full-back Luke Hooley has returned to his former club Batley in the Championship on a two-week loan deal.

The 24-year-old joined the Rhinos in the off-season on a two-year deal after being a standout player in the second tier with Batley.

Hooley made his debut for Leeds in last week’s 20-12 defeat to Hull KR in the absence of regular full-back Richie Myler.

But with Myler expected to come back into Rohan Smith’s side for Sunday’s derby clash with Huddersfield, Hooley has been sent out on loan as he continues to find full fitness after picking up an ankle injury in pre-season.

He will spend the next fortnight at least in the Championship getting regular game time with the Bulldogs.

Hooley is in line to make his Batley return in their Championship clash with Featherstone on Friday afternoon.

Speaking in pre-season about his time at Batley, Hooley said: “It didn’t feel like a job. It was something you would go to do and you’d want to go. You think ‘oh I’ve got training tonight’ at some places but I just loved it. I loved every single minute of it.

“We got to the semi final and we were thinking that’s an outstanding achievement for what the club is and what they spend, and then get to the Grand Final the year after when everyone had wrote us off. The only belief was us in the camp, we believed we could do it. We treated the Fev game as our Grand Final and after that were just about enjoying it.

“I matured a lot more than I thought I would last year. There’s a lot more pressure on you. My name had got out a bit more then. People knew who I was from the first year. I had a good year and teams probably reviewed a little bit more on certain players and you have to adapt and stuff like that. I tried to take a leadership role in that second year and it worked out well.”

More on Luke Hooley

The Yorkshireman came through the ranks at Bradford before moving to Wakefield during his academy days.

He didn’t make a first team appearances for Trinity, but enjoyed successful loan spells at Oldham and Dewsbury.

Hooley left Wakefield at the end of the 2019 season to join Championship side Batley on a permanent basis.

Hooley spent three seasons at Batley between 2020-22, scoring 30 tries in 56 appearances for Craig Lingard’s side.

The livewire full-back impressed during his time at Mount Pleasant, which earned him a move to Super League giants Leeds ahead of this season.

He made his Leeds first team debut last week against Hull KR, but has been loaned back to Batley as he nears a return to 100 per cent fitness and to get regular game time.

In total, Hooley has scored 42 tries and kicked 58 goals in 98 career appearances. He will join the 100 club if he plays in Batley’s upcoming fixtures against Featherstone and Bradford.

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