I would follow Joe Rodon into war. He’s become the spiritual leader of Leeds United’s promotion push, playing alongside captain Ethan Ampadu in a defence that his coach loves to call the “Welsh Wall”. During Monday night’s emotionally overwhelming win against Sunderland, there was no Leeds player I felt more in-tune with than Rodon.

Back when Leeds were 1-0 down, Sunderland’s Luke O’Nien decided to jump on a prone Illan Meslier after the ‘keeper caught a free-kick — an avant garde professional foul. Rather than tolerate it, Rodon pushed O’Nien off Leeds’ goalkeeper in the same manner you’d separate a Jack Russell from humping a leg. Then he responded to Wilson Isidor’s attempt to square up to him with what we’ll call a light brush of the head, as I presume the FA are still desperately trying to find an angle to punish Leeds for it.

Was Rodon’s reaction to Isidor a sensible one? Of course not, but in hindsight it was just right. Sometimes you’ve got to let a striker know who’s boss. Something similar happened when Leeds drew 1-1 at Preston in December as Milutin Osmajic — who had recently returned from a ten-game ban after biting Blackburn’s Owen Beck — tried to kick Rodon after losing a duel. Big Joe got right in his face and the wannabe Osmajic quickly backed down when he realised he’d picked on someone his own size.

Rodon spent most of Monday night doing what he does best: breaking up attacks and going on mazy runs like a Welsh Franco Baresi. As Leeds equalised through Pascal Struijk in the 77th minute, the stadium lost its collective mind and Rodon joined in, running back to his spot on the edge of the Leeds box and celebrating to himself. Rodon is a proper football fan and it’s never more evident than when Leeds score.

He famously sat in the away end at Cardiff as a Swansea player when he was injured and prompted former Cardiff (and Leeds, sort of) striker Nathan Blake to write a rather salty column for Wales Online about not dividing support for the national team. To borrow an overused cliché, Rodon ‘gets it’.

But it’s not just his personality. Rodon’s pace and ability to win one-on-one battles with attackers has given Leeds fans a sense of reassurance that has been desperately lacking in recent years. If you try to run past Rodon, he’s likely to stop you in your tracks. Should you instead put the ball over the top, it’ll only serve to allow him a chance to show off his wheels. He’s started every Leeds United league fixture since the start of October 2023, a consecutive run of 69 games at the time of writing. After a controversial red card against Hull last season, Rodon was suspended for the Watford game that followed and Daniel Farke left him on the bench as Leeds were trounced 4-1 at Southampton. The manager hasn’t dropped him since, with the exception of the odd cup tie.

Rodon has only been substituted twice in 85 Leeds appearances and Farke even joked about not letting him come off injured in the 3-1 win against Middlesbrough played three days after Rodon scored his first Leeds goal. “I told him [he had] no chance of a substitution. Last weekend you celebrated and now, we need some steel, no chance we sub you,” Farke said, only half-joking.

The weekly niggles have added to the lore around Rodon. Without fail, in every match there’s a moment when he’s holding an injured body part and you find yourself thinking he’s going off. But he never does. Is he really injured? Should we be worried? Or is he playing possum with his opposite man in the ultimate mind game? Dunno. He’s probably just being Joe Rodon.

Consistency is the theme with him. Defending, being injured, having a 50p head at attacking corners. Rodon was booked four times in the first nine matches of the 2024/25 season, meaning he would be suspended if yellow carded in any of the next ten fixtures. “I will tell the referees before a game that the one foul Joe Rodon has is not always a yellow card,” said Farke after the fourth booking. Leeds were also missing Ethan Ampadu and Max Wober at this point, meaning that there was no natural cover at centre-back. Rodon went through ten games without being booked and has only received one caution in 24 appearances since receiving his fourth yellow at Sunderland in early October.

Rodon is one of those rare players that passes the eye test and posts impressive defensive stats, but has also developed a character in the eyes of Leeds fans as a bit of a madman. Perhaps we fans are seeing what we want to, making Rodon the embodiment of a fanbase that his boss called “probably the most emotional club in this country”.

But whatever it is about Joe Rodon, it helps reinforce the belief that this Leeds team are heading towards the ultimate goal this year and he sees that. As Leeds’ players tired on Monday night having chased the game since the half hour mark, Rodon ushered them forward to press Sunderland deep into their own half. It was an on-pitch manifestation of the Elland Road crowd’s will. Get into ‘em. ⬢