Francis Cummins led Leeds to a 20-2 victory over Castleford in the traditional Boxing Day challenge and then discovered he is in danger of losing his full-back role in addition to the captaincy.
Within minutes of putting pen to a two-year contract, evergreen Wigan and Great Britain star Gary Connolly was introduced to the 10,366 Headingley crowd midway through the Rhinos' comfortable four-try success.
The 31-year-old Connolly was snapped up by Leeds after Wigan chairman Maurice Lindsay, currently holidaying in Australia, agreed to release him from his rugby union commitments with sister club Orrell.
The former St Helens favourite was delighted to abandon his brief career in the 15-man code in order to extend his Super League career and revealed he has set his sights on the full-back role at Headingley.
Although he has been a specialist centre throughout his nine years at Wigan, he began his career at St Helens as a full-back and turned back the clock in some style with a faultless contribution to Great Britain's drawn Test series with New Zealand.
"I really enjoyed the full-back position," he said. "I started as a full-back and it has taken me nine years to get it back."
With Australian Test ace Chris McKenna set to line up alongside Keith Senior in the centres, Rhinos coach Daryl Powell admits it will be tempting to let his new recruit continue in the full-back position.
"The Test series showed what an outstanding player he is," said Powell. "He brings versatility to the squad but he looked pretty accomplished in the full-back role for Great Britain."
Cummins, happy to relinquish the captaincy to Kevin Sinfield, may now be forced to go back to his roots by battling for a wing spot.
The Ireland international briefly regained the leadership role when Sinfield failed a fitness test on a knee injury and led the Rhinos to a routine win over a Castleford side lacking nine regulars.
The Tigers briefly led through Mark Lennon's fourth-minute penalty but they rarely threatened the Leeds line and conceded tries to Matt Adamson, Peter Lupton, Richard Mathers and Rob Burrow, who succeeded with just two of his five shots at goal.
By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport
Veteran Great Britain hooker James Lowes led the way as Bradford Bulls flexed their muscles for the new season with an impressive eight-try rout of Castleford in their only pre-season friendly on Friday.
The evergreen Lowes picked up from where he left off against the touring Kiwis in November with a polished display as last year's beaten Grand Finalists sent out an ominous warning ahead of Super League VIII.
Castleford had no answer to the rampaging runs of international prop forwards Stuart Fielden and Joe Vagana nor the elusive running of Robbie Paul and Leon Pryce, despite the efforts of outstanding hooker Wayne Bartrim.
Tigers full-back Damian Gibson scored a brace of tries on his home debut and fellow newcomer Jamie Thackray was also a tryscorer but Graham Steadman's team were never in the hunt.
The Bulls never looked back after roaring into an 18-0 inside 13 minutes thanks to tries from Pryce, Lee Radford and Paul, who jinked his way over for a second before the break to make it 24-6.
A blockbusting effort by Scott Naylor extended their lead and, although the Tigers briefly threatened to get into the game, they were blown away by a devastating scoring burst of three tries in six minutes through Daniel Gartner, Stuart Reardon and Radford.
Scrum-half Paul Deacon was on target with six of his eight conversion attempts and Bradford will also have been encouraged by the display of new signing Shontayne Hape, who ended an 11-month injury lay-off with a confident display highlighted by some deft handling skills.
Great Britain winger Karl Pratt, playing his first game since his nightmare under the high ball against New Zealand in November, also showed some nice touches, although it was 55 minutes before he received his first "bomb".
By Andy Hampson, PA Sport
Wakefield emerged battered and bruised to claim a place in the fifth round of the Powergen Challenge Cup with a slender derby win over Castleford at Belle Vue.
Tries from Gareth Ellis, Ben Jeffries and Waisale Sovatabua and four goals from Ian Knott eventually saw the Wildcats edge home after a fierce encounter with their near neighbours.
The Tigers played most of the game with 12 men after former Wildcat Ryan Hudson was sent off for fighting but two tries from Mark Lennon and one from Danny Orr saw them hold the lead for most of the game.
An error-strewn game eventually came to life as the lead switched hands several times in the second half but it was the home side who ended up on top.
The tone for a scrappy first half littered with mistakes and penalties was set after just 20 seconds when Wakefield's former Sydney Roosters prop Michael Korkidas was penalised for a high tackle.
Things improved little after that as both sides traded penalties, handling errors and punches at a regular rate.
Lennon's break for the line which yielded Castleford's first try after just one minute hinted at better things to come but after Wayne Bartrim converted, the game quickly went downhill.
Wakefield's much-changed line-up, which included seven of their 10 winter recruits, particularly lacked cohesion but they were left with a man advantage after Hudson was sent off on 18 minutes.
Hudson, who left Belle Vue a year ago, felt the full force of a strong tackle from Matt Seers and decided to seek his own retribution.
A fight broke out involving several players, after which referee Ian Smith felt he had no option but to show Hudson the red card. Seers was punished for his involvement with a stint in the sin bin.
Yet the Wildcats showed little sign of making their advantage count and Cas only had themselves to blame for the scores being tied 6-6 at the break.
Having narrowly escaped when Waine Pryce's wayward pass almost allowed Troy Slattery to steal a try under the posts, the Tigers then failed to hold off a seemingly aimless run from Gareth Ellis after 34 minutes.
The visitors defended well five tackles in front of their line but then switched off allowing Ellis to wriggle his way across half the width of the field and stretch his ball-carrying arm over the line.
Knott added the extras to level the scores and then edged the Wildcats 8-6 ahead with a long-range penalty early in the second half.
Yet their lead was to last little longer than four minutes as yet another handling error led to the Tigers gaining possession inside the Trinity 20.
Castleford, whose only other fluent move had ended with a Pryce try ruled out for a forward pass, took full advantage this time with a clever run from Orr.
Orr feigned a kick to the corner and then turned brilliantly to weave his way over by the posts. Bartrim converted to hand his side a four-point advantage which lasted until the final quarter when Wakefield finally began to click into gear.
At last Trinity enjoyed a sustained spell of pressure in the opposition half and it finally paid dividends after 63 minutes when former Wests Tigers half-back Jeffries managed to force his way over. Knott's third successful kick put his side in front for the second time.
Yet again however it was to prove short-lived as Lennon finished off good work from Orr and Mitch Healey to race in for his second try.
Bartrim's tricky conversion set up a tense final 10 minutes but Cas were denied a potentially match-winning try by the video referee soon after.
Darren Rogers failed to gather Orr's kick but Michael Eagar pounced to touch down, only for the official to rule him in touch.
Wakefield instantly cashed in on the reprieve to race downfield and regain the field. Sovatabua rounded off a quick counter-attacking move before Knott again landed the conversion to inch his side back in front, this time decisively.
© SportingLife.com 2003
Two tries in the last five minutes by Darren Rogers and Waine Pryce sent Castleford roaring into the new Super League season.
Rogers grabbed his second touchdown to put the Tigers ahead before Pryce went over in the dying seconds to seal victory as the home side bounced back from their Challenge Cup defeat at Wakefield.
Wigan's misery was compounded when centre Paul Johnson was sent off in the 78th minute for a high tackle on Castleford's Jamie Thackray.
Castleford took a fourth-minute lead when Australians Wayne Bartrim and Mike Eagar linked to send winger Rogers in for his first score which Bartrim goaled.
Full-back Mark Lennon then rescued the Tigers by preventing Wigan's Terry Newton grounding the ball after he forced his way over.
Andy Farrell opened Wigan's account with a 12th-minute penalty goal but was taken off 11 minutes later with a knee injury.
The Tigers looked the sharper side and Pryce and Lee Harland were hauled down inches short before Rogers had an effort disallowed for a double movement.
Julian O'Neill put Wigan only two points behind by kicking a 32nd-minute penalty goal.
Bartrim put Thackray over nine minutes into the second half but the try was ruled out for a forward pass.
O'Neill made it 6-6 a minute later with a penalty goal and then put the Warriors ahead for the first time in the 55th minute with his third goal after Castleford's Harland was penalised for obstructing Kris Radlinski.
Bartrim levelled the scores with a 62nd-minute penalty goal and skipper Danny Orr nosed the Tigers back in front with a drop goal four minutes later.
O'Neill then edged Wigan 10-9 up with his fourth goal after Adrian Lam was flattened after kicking ahead.
In a pulsating finish Castleford struck a vital blow when substitute Wayne Godwin sent Rogers crashing over for a try which Bartrim converted.
Johnson was then dismissed before Pryce went in to put the issue beyond doubt.
© PA Sporting Life
Castleford Tigers eased to a comfortable 36 points to 12 win over National League high flyers Leigh Centurions.
Early tries to Michael Smith and Wayne Godwin set the tone for the evening which saw the Tigers little troubled by their Lancashire adversaries.
Further first half tries from Damian Gibson, a second for Wayne Godwin and Mark Lennon along with three first half goals from Lennon's boot saw the Tigers with a comfortable 26-12 lead at half-time.
Second half tries from Darren Rogers and Ryan Hudson, making his return after suspension with Lennon adding an extra two points completed the scoring.
Graham Steadman took the opportunity to give some of the younger members of the squad some valuable game time experience, with young Craig Huby making his senior debut at the tender age of sixteen.
© SportingLife.com 2003
A burst of 12 points in eight second-half minutes was enough to keep up Castleford's unbeaten start to the season at the expense of battling Halifax.
Tony Anderson's unfancied Halifax side dominated the first half and led by 10 points to eight after 50 minutes.
But the Tigers had too much experience and know-how in the second half as they put paid to the youngest side in this season's Tetley's Super League.
Centre Michael Eagar's penalty gave the visitors a third-minute lead, but it did not last long as the home side hit back with a neat try by Dane Dorahy.
The Australian scrum-half spotted a gap in the visitors' defence and skipped over the line, before adding the conversion.
Anderson's side went on to dominate the first half and should have scored again on 21 minutes when a powerful run by Andy Hobson took him to the Castleford line. But as he offloaded Martin Moana tumbled with the line at his mercy.
The Tigers drew level on 32 minutes when substitute Francis Maloney, making his first appearance since rejoining the club from Salford, took advantage of a defence-splitting Ryan Hudson run to score. Wayne Bartrim added the goal.
Chris Norman's superb cover tackle on Bartrim prevented a certain try two minutes later. But Dorahy's penalty ensured the sides went in level at half-time, and his second gave Halifax the lead on 50 minutes.
Castleford wrestled the advantage back again when former Halifax star Damien Gibson sneaked over in the corner after Darren Rogers had palmed Bartrim's high kick into his path.
Captain Danny Orr's penalty extended the visitors' lead as the confidence flooded through the Castleford ranks.
Michael Smith's long pass sent Mark Lennon racing down the field, and he outstripped the cover before slipping the ball inside to Wayne Godwin who went over.
Orr's goal wrapped up the win for Castleford - while Halifax's Shayne McMenemy was placed on report for a high tackle on Gibson to complete a miserable second period for the home side.
By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport
Sean Long put surprise packet Castleford firmly in their place with a sparkling hat-trick of tries as Tetley's Super League champions St Helens strengthened their position at the top of the table.
The mercurial scrum-half, now injury-free and playing at the top of his form, grabbed the 100th try of his career to help Saints quell an early onslaught from the Tigers.
He then added two more after the break and kicked all nine conversions for a 30-point haul as Ian Millward's men ran riot with six second-half tries to secure a third successive win.
St Helens were also indebted to another brilliant performance from Long's half-back partner Paul Sculthorpe, who had a hand in five of his side's nine tries.
Yet there was little sign of the one-way traffic as Castleford, hoping to capitalise on their best-ever start to a Super League season, had threatened to pull off their first league win at Knowsley Road for 13 years when they stormed into a 10-0 lead inside 14 minutes.
The luck went the way of the Tigers in the early stages, with prop Andy Lynch making the most of a ricochet from Danny Orr's pass close to the line to score a fifth-minute try.
Wayne Bartrim kicked the conversion and increased his side's lead with a couple of penalties as they gained their reward for purposeful play.
Castleford went into the match with the best defence in Super League, having conceded just one try in 160 minutes of rugby, but it began to look fragile when Saints at last found their rhythm.
Long sparked the fightback on 21 minutes, hoisting a high kick for winger Darren Albert to leap above Waine Pryce for the first try and three minutes later Sculthorpe got Paul Wellens through a gap with a delayed pass and Tim Jonkers was in support to touch down.
Long then completed the purple patch, forcing his way over from close range after taking another dream pass from Sculthorpe and also kicked his third successful conversion to make it 18-10.
Castleford, who introduced new Australian recruit Paul Mellor after half an hour, stemmed the onslaught and pulled two points back five minutes before the break with another Bartrim penalty.
The visitors began the second half as they had the first but this time the St Helens defence held firm and the home side turned on the style with a second devastating 10-minute scoring burst to make the game safe.
Veteran centre Paul Newlove took advantage of another defence-splitting pass from Sculthorpe to glide through for a fourth try within six minutes of the re-start.
Long then completed his hat-trick with two tries in seven minutes, finishing off a smart break by John Stankevitch for one and supporting a blockbusting run from Newlove for the other.
Saints were simply irresistible at that stage when it began to look embarrassingly easy as Mick Higham darted over, Newlove finished powerfully for his second and former Wigan forward Stuart Jones scored his first try for the club.
By Andy Hampson, PA Sport
Wakefield completed an early season league and cup double over Castleford in a thrilling derby at The Jungle.
Trailing to an early Michael Eagar try, the Wildcats fought their way back to add a Tetley's Super League victory to their Powergen Challenge Cup defeat of the Tigers in February.
Gareth Ellis began the revival before Matt Seers, playing his first game since that cup win at Belle Vue, put the visitors in front.
The second half proved every bit as tight - and bruising - but a Brad Davis touchdown proved the decisive.
Cas started the game at an electrifying pace and dominated the opening 10 minutes.
The home side opened the scoring after just two minutes when lively full-back Damian Gibson sent Eagar over from short range.
The pair were then straight back in action as Gibson launched another quick counter-attack from inside his own half but Eagar was stopped inches short of a second try.
Cas kept their foot on the gas and another scintillating move, this time involving winger Waine Pryce, was only halted when Seers clumsily tackled Paul Mellor.
Seers was sin-binned for his trouble, just as he was in the Wildcats' cup win at Belle Vue.
He was soon followed back to the dug-outs by Wakefield scrum-half Brad Davis and opposite number Francis Maloney, who were ordered to cool off for fighting.
It left the Wildcats with only 11 men on the field and Wayne Bartrim took the opportunity to edge Cas further ahead by following up his earlier conversion with a penalty.
But Wakefield refused to lie down and forced their way back into the game when some poor Cas defending allowed Gareth Ellis to slip in and touch down.
It almost got worse for Cas, who also allowed a good early lead to slip against St Helens last week.
Seers, his punishment served, was soon back in the thick of the action and touched down after a high Ben Jeffries kick caused mayhem but a David March knock-on denied him the score.
Seers was not to be outdone however as a free-flowing move on the stroke of half-time allowed the Australian winter recruit to crash over in the corner.
Ian Knott missed the conversion but an earlier penalty proved the only difference between the two sides at the break.
Wakefield continued to control affairs as the game resumed and Knott added another two points after a high tackle on hooker David March from Bartrim.
Richard Newlove then missed a chance to inflict further damage on the Tigers as he failed to gather after Pryce had missed a Jeffries kick.
But Jeffries remained a dangerous proposition and his well-weighted grubber kick allowed Davis to dive between the posts and put clear daylight between the sides after 57 minutes.
Knott's conversion established a 10-point lead but Mark Lennon ensured a tense finale when he jinked his way over for a Cas reply 14 minutes from time.
The Tigers substitute had only one thing in mind as he ran through the Wildcats defence and forced his way over for Bartrim to add the extras.
That forced Knott to take on a penalty from over 40 metres to give the visitors a little more breathing space and they just did enough to hold on.
© SportingLife.com 2003
Castleford moved into the top six of the Tetley's Super League after condemning London Broncos to a third successive home defeat at Griffin Park.
Graham Steadman's side took advantage of London missing 10 regulars with a clinical display after recovering from a poor start.
London opened the scoring after only three minutes when Rob Purdham's kick through was collected by Tony Martin.
The home side doubled their advantage after eight minutes when Andrew King juggled Nigel Roy's pass before touching down.
Castleford finally got on the scoreboard after 19 minutes through Wayne Bartrim's penalty after the home side were penalised for obstruction.
Then four minutes later, Lee Harland's drive set up Danny Orr who threw out a long pass for half-back partner Mark Lennon to touch down.
London's lead was finally erased on the half-hour mark when Bartrim added his second penalty following an offside.
Three minutes later they were ahead again however when Martin kicked a penalty.
Castleford ran away with the game in the second period and they started their try scoring after only three minutes.
Paul Mellor threw a pass out wide for Waine Pryce to convert in the corner.
London wasted a succession of chances to get back into the game and their indiscipline cost them dear when Bartrim added two penalties in 60 seconds after 71 and 72 minutes.
Castleford finally wrapped up victory three minutes from time when Orr sent Michael Eagar through a gaping gap in the home defence to touch down and Bartrim added his sixth successful kick of the afternoon.