Former Leeds Rhinos young gun handed captaincy of League 1 club for 2025

Former Leeds Rhinos starlet Callum McLelland has been named captain of Midlands Hurricanes for 2025 having made his comeback from a long-term injury nightmare last season.

Now 25, two-time Scotland international McLelland – who donned a shirt for Edinburgh Rugby in union earlier in his career – linked up with Midlands ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Playing a total of 15 games across all competitions and scoring five tries, his debut for the Hurricanes against Rochdale Hornets in February was his first competitive senior appearance since August 2021.

He had spent close to two full calendar years with Castleford Tigers prior without making a single appearance due to a horror injury.

After rupturing his Patella Tendon, effectively snapping it in half and requiring complex surgery, the half-back was never able to get to a position where he could feature for the Tigers, suffering numerous setbacks along the way.

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Former Leeds Rhinos young gun handed captaincy of League 1 club for 2025

The Pontefract-born playmaker, who featured at youth level for England on the international stage, now has 46 senior club appearances to his name in league having also featured 15 times on dual-registration for Featherstone Rovers during his time at Leeds.

And having caught the eye during his first year in League 1 with the Hurricanes, he’s earned the honour of captaining them in 2025, with the club announcing that decision on Sunday afternoon.

Head coach Mark Dunning has kept Huddersfield Giants academy product Jon-Luke Kirby as vice-captain for the upcoming season, with the remainder of his leadership group made up of Ross Oakes, Jose Kenga and Matty Chrimes.

Dunning said: “I’m really happy to announce our leadership group, culminating in Jon being our vice-captain for the second year running and Callum being promoted to our 2025 captain.

“We have a great group again this year which is full of natural leaders; these boys have some seniority and all bring different traits to their leadership.

“The group will continue to work hard with our sole focus on continued growth, both individually and collectively.”

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