Leeds Rhinos star Danny McGuire says he has been impressed with United’s summer signings and is hoping for a positive campaign at Elland Road.

McGuire, a big United fan, is currently enjoying the rugby league off-season after helping the Rhinos clinch their first Challenge Cup trophy for 15 years.

The 31-year-old has spent his entire career with the Super League side after progressing through the club’s academy to earn legendary status at Headingley.

On a recent visit to United’s Thorp Arch training base, McGuire gave his verdict on the season so far and spoke of his hopes for the year ahead.

"I’ve been to a couple of games, it’s been a bit of an up and down start," he said.

"There’s been some good performances.

"I watched the Sheffield Wednesday game and I thought they played some really good stuff and were probably unlucky not to be three or four up at certain stages.

"Then Wednesday broke away and scored so maybe it was two points thrown away there a little bit, but it’s only early in the season.

"If you win two or three games it puts you right back in the mix. It’s a very tough league is the Championship but hopefully we’ll have a good run.

"I’ve been impressed with some of the signings that we've made, some of the Italian guys look very good.

"It’s such a big club that we need to be pushing for promotion, we need to be up there and in the play-offs.

"But if we can finish mid-table or above, I think that’s a decent platform to build on for next year."

VIDEO: FREEVIEW - DANNY McQUIRE 10.10.14

McGuire played a crucial role in the Rhinos’ 23-10 Challenge Cup final win over Yorkshire rivals Castleford, scoring a try and a drop goal at Wembley back in August.

But their league campaign was not as fruitful as they exited the play-offs at the first hurdle with a home defeat to Catalans Dragons after finishing sixth.

"We were obviously delighted to win the Challenge Cup, that was the big aim at the start of the year and it’s something that’s eluded us for a few years," McGuire said.

"That was such a special day to win at Wembley but it was then probably a little bit disappointing in the play-offs.

"To bow out at the first stage left a little bit of a sour taste in everybody’s mouth.

"We’ve got a little bit of time now to reflect and then we’re back in pre-season in a couple of weeks. We’re looking forward to next year now.

"We’ve got a couple of special players in our team who are going to be finishing at the end of the year – Jamie Peacock and Kyle Leuluai – so I think you’ll see a determined team trying to send them off in good style.

"Next year will be a good year for us hopefully."

McGuire was in attendance to see fellow United fan, boxer Josh Warrington, clinch the European featherweight title and he hailed support shown by the city for all sports.

"Leeds is a very proud city and whenever any of the sporting people or the teams are doing well, the city really gets behind them," said the Rhinos star.

"Josh is just starting his journey now to hopefully becoming a world champion so there’s no doubt it’s just the start of a great journey for him.

"The scenes that night just showed the city is already behind him and it’s only going to get bigger."