A message from Jamie Jones-Buchanan MBE

Our 2027 Memberships went on sale this morning, and it feels like the perfect opportunity to reflect on what has already been a big season for this club. 

Regardless of how 2026 ultimately wraps up, there is a growing sense around AMT Headingley that something BIG is happening at the Rhinos - and that this season is only the start. 

Atmosphere. It has momentum but no mass.  

You can feel it, but you can’t touch it. 

We create it together, yet none of us can manufacture it. 

Yet when our people explain why they had to be at AMT Headingley in 2026, atmosphere is the common denominator. 

So, what metric can we grasp? Our highest average attendance since 2007, and our third highest since the halcyon days of the fifties. Seats repeatedly sold out in both the North and the South. 

Big crowds, certainly. But the numbers only tell us how many people came. The atmosphere helps explain why.  

A mosaic of voices, each with a different story, weaving an eclectic thread of belonging throughout the stadium. 

And that belonging finds its reflection on the pitch. 

Our great Leeds teams have always had deep local roots, with a healthy sprinkling of shooting stars. Brown, Lloyd, McCormack, Littlewood, Cassell, Edgell and Lumb give that story a new chapter, emerging from our streets and the grassroots clubs we represent. 

We can count their appearances and measure their development, but how do we measure what it feels like to see one of our own run out at Headingley.

To recognise a little of ourselves in their journey, and know that another big Leeds future is being forged in front of us

That is where belonging meets stewardship. This is our club, and we all have a part in what it becomes. 

Handley, Hall and Watkins bridge those chapters: homegrown talent reaching the highest orbit. In them, we see that while history doesn’t repeat itself, it moves in cycles.  

And there are too many stellar performers to mention in 2026. We can measure their tries, metres, tackles and moments that change games, and we all have our favourite player who inspires that nebulous anticipation every time they get the ball. 

Perhaps our big stars do bring mass: a weight of talent, belief and expectation that gives our shared momentum something to gather around. 

I’ve worn so many hats at this club. Each role has given me a different lens through which to see it, and another reason to care. Through every lens, I keep seeing that connection. 

What’s happening on the pitch connects with what’s happening in the stands. Performance lifts the crowd; the crowd lifts the players. Different people, different stories, moving in the same direction. 

Marching on together.   

I can point to the pieces. I can feel them coming together. And although it’s hard to put my finger on it, I know that… 

Something BIG is happening. 

Atmosphere, belonging, stewardship, and connection. 

2027 Membership gives you your place at the heart of it. 

JJB