BRAD Singleton’s patience has been sorely tested in his first six years at Leeds, but he believes his long wait for a regular first-team place is over.

The 23-year-old prop has largely been a fringe player since he moved to Yorkshire from Barrow Island in 2009.

But the retirement of front-row stalwarts Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai at the end of last year has paved the way for him to finally make his mark at the club.

“I made my debut in 2011 and I’ve always had the likes of JP and Kylie in front of me,” Rating Lane product Singleton said.

“It’s pretty obvious there is a big opportunity with them both leaving for me to hopefully come into my own.”

Of Singleton’s 76 appearances, more than half have been off the bench, but he started October’s Grand Final against Wigan and was in from the start when the Rhinos began the defence of their Super League crown against Warrington last Thursday.

“I’ve had to be patient,” Singleton said. “I think for the first three years, I think that’s all I got told to me – patience, patience.

“If you know me, I’m not that patient but that’s all gone now and you forget about it.

“I’ve been given my chance, especially over the last three years, I’ve been playing decent minutes. It should be a good year this year.”

Leeds coach Brian McDermott said: “Brad has been around the first team for a number of years now but you can be guilty of forgetting that he has only just turned 23.

“This season is a great opportunity for him to kick on with his career.”

Leeds have also brought in Australian Keith Galloway and Ireland international Anthony Mullally, alongside two other overseas props in Adam Cuthbertson and Mitch Garbutt, to help offset the loss of the club greats, but Singleton – Cumbria’s sports personality of the year in 2015 – is acutely aware of the giant-sized task facing them.

“It’s massive because of how long they were here for and also what they achieved, personally and for the team,” he said. “Of course it’s daunting.

“But you’ve just got to crack on. You’ve got your own little story and your own motivation and you have just got to get on with it.

“There’s obviously tough competition here, I think we’ve got a really exciting pack this year.”

Leeds, whose mouthwatering clash with North Queensland in the World Club Challenge is just 12 days away, made a disappointing start to the defence of their hat-trick of trophies with a 12-10 home defeat by Warrington and they will be without new captain Danny McGuire for the next six to eight weeks with a knee injury.

Even before that opening setback, Singleton knew the Rhinos had given themselves a major headache attempting to follow their treble-winning heroics.

“We have to dig deep,” Singleton said. “It was tough last year, we only won in the last seconds of the league and in the Grand Final it was tough as anything.

“We just have to take it each game at a time and remember it’s going to be a tough game every week.”