IN terms of half-backs at Warrington Wolves, it is a case of "one in, one out."

The experienced Josh Drinkwater is leaving upon the expiry of his contract, with the signing of London Broncos' Oli Leyland for 2025 now confirmed.

With Leon Hayes expected to take a full part in pre-season having recovered from his broken ankle, Leyland has effectively taken Drinkwater's place and will now compete with Hayes to partner George Williams in Sam Burgess' side.

Both players are, of course, at different ends of their careers - Drinkwater, 33, is 10 years Leyland's senior and has nearly 200 Super League appearances under his belt.

By contrast, Leyland had not played in the top flight until this year, when he was ever-present in the Broncos' 28 games in all competitions, four of which came against his new side.

So in that respect, how does The Wire's new half-back compare to the one about to leave?

We've put together some key stats from both players' 2024 Super League campaigns side-by-side in the table below

(Image: NQ) The above figures suggest Leyland may carry more of an offensive threat than Drinkwater - while they are equal in tries scored, Leyland's 16 assists places him in the competition's top 10.

And in terms of his fellow half-backs, he is in elite company in that respect - those above him are among the established elite players in the competition (George Williams, Marc Sneyd, Brodie Croft, Mikey Lewis and Lachlan Lam).

As a runner, too, Leyland appears to have the edge, making more clean breaks and taking in an average of around four carries per game (14.3) more than Drinkwater (10.6) during the season.

His long kicking stats may offer some encouragement too, especially given it is an area in which some observers have said Wire's halves have lacked this year - the three "40-20s" he kicked in 2024 was bettered only by his future teammate Danny Walker.

Among half-backs, only Man of Steel contenders Lewis and Sneyd and his now former Broncos colleague James Meadows can match his figure.

On the other side of the coin, however, the figures appear to suggest Leyland may have some vulnerabilities defensively with only Salford's Oli Partington (103) and Hull KR's Tyrone May (91) recording more missed tackles than the half-back's 87.

However, both players' tackle success rate (Partington 89 per cent, May 85.1 per cent) exceed that of Leyland, who successfully completed 76.9 per cent of the tackles he attempted in 2024.

By contrast, Drinkwater completed 299 tackles - nine more than Leyland despite featuring in six fewer matches - and missed 32 for a success ratio of 90.3 per cent.