 |  I'm not here to be the 'superstar'. I just want us to win |
New Leeds recruit Justin Marshall believes moving to the Premiership can make him a better player. The most-capped All Blacks scrum-half makes his league debut against London Irish on Saturday at Twickenham.
"I am here to play my best rugby," he told BBC Five Live. "(Leeds coach) Phil Davies and I have spoken about how this could make me a better player.
"I have high expectations of myself and am quite prepared to do the hard work for that to happen."
Leeds struggled for most of last season but a run of four wins in a row - either side of winning the Powergen Cup - took them from rock bottom to an eighth-place finish.
"I think we've got a great group of players, and you can see they grew in self-belief from what they achieved late last year," Marshall added.
"I've been around the traps and got some experience. I'd like to add that to this side and help them achieve what we want to as a squad. "I'm not here to be the 'superstar' that's scoring the tries and making the breaks. I just want us to win."
Leeds also pulled off another coup with the signing of Scotland captain and Lions hooker Gordon Bulloch, who also believes he can improve after retiring from international rugby.
"Front-rowers are different to most positions, in that you get stronger as you get older," said Bulloch. "But before, I was getting caught between two teams - Glasgow and Scotland.
"I fell in between the two, and you can never really give everything to one or the other.
"I can at Leeds and, when all the guys go off to England or Scotland this season, that's when I can push on. Leeds could see the best of me yet." Despite the experience of their two big signings, Leeds' captain this season is 23-year-old England A lock Stuart Hooper.
Hooper insists that if the Tykes are to progress this season, it will be down to an "all-for-one" ethos rather than the high-profile arrivals.
"Justin has a presence about him and is a very highly motivated and competitive individual," Hooper told BBC Sport. "He brings a tremendous amount to the team, as will Gordon, who is very approachable and has fantastic rugby ability.
"But the way we look at it at Leeds, we are a star team, not a team of stars. When I look at them, they are no higher in the team than me, and it is the same across the board.
"I am responsibile for the decisions made on the pitch but other than that, we are very much a peer-less team."
MMIX
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