5 return as Leeds Rhinos squad named v York Knights but star man to miss Hull KR clash in Las Vegas
Leeds Rhinos could have five players back from injury for Friday’s clash with York Knights, but a star player has been ruled out of next week’s trip to Las Vegas.
Winger Maikia Sivo was today (Wednesday) named in Rhinos’ initial 21-man squad for the first time since joining the club ahead of last season. Prop Jeremiah Mata’utia could also make his debut in two days’ time and scrum-half Jake Connor, prop Keenan Palasia and loose-forward Cameron Smith are set to return from injury against York.
Rhinos though remain without captain/centre Ash Handley and England prop Mikolaj Oledzki is facing at least two more games on the casualty list. Oledzki suffered damage to ribs during Leeds’ Challenge Cup win at Widnes Vikings two weeks ago and sat out last Friday’s Betfred Super League opener against Leigh Leopards.
“He doesn’t need surgery, which is great, but it’s four to six weeks,” coach Brad Arthur said of Oledzki. “It’s not great news for him in terms of next week, but he understands it’s part of the game unfortunately.”
Sivo hasn’t played since an anterior cruciate ligament rupture 13 months ago. Mata’utia, Palasia and Connor all sustained knee injuries in training and have yet to feature this season and Smith (groin) was hurt against Widnes. Arthur added: “I’m pretty proud of their efforts to get themselves available and in contention for this week.
“They’ve got to get through training today (Wednesday). Maika will make his Super League debut, Jake Connor will be back, Keenan will be back, Cameron will be back and Jerry will make his Super League debut. Those five guys are handy additions to the team.
“Some of them might not be 100 per cent but they're good enough to get out there and play. They’ve pushed themselves really hard to get themselves ready to play.”
Sivo was a prolific try scorer for Parramatta Eels, coached by Arthur, in the southern hemisphere NRL. Arthur reflected: “It has been tough on the fans and our club for him not to play, but the people who have suffered the most are him and his family.
“They made the commitment to uproot their family and would have had high expectations so they are the guys that deserve this the most. Maika gets the reward of playing this week. The expectations aren’t too great; he’s going to be down on his fitness and hasn't played for a while. We could have put him in a reserve-grade game, but I don’t know if he would have got much out of that.
“We need to throw him in the deep end and the boys will look after him. He’s excited and nervous as well, I’d suspect, but I’m really proud of how hard he has worked.”
Handley hasn’t played in either of Rhinos’ competitive games this year because of a groin injury, but could be in contention for Vegas, where Leeds will play Hull KR in a Super League fixture. Arthur said: “He’s a little bit cranky with me that I didn’t give him the opportunity to play this week. He’s getting very close. He’ll train today, but we haven’t considered him in the 21 because he hasn’t done enough of a training load and it’s too big a risk.”
Prop Presley Cassell and winger Riley Lumb drop out from the side on duty in the 26-14 loss at Leigh. Fergie McCormack, Oscar Brown and Jacob Stead, who didn’t play last week, step down from the 21.
Rhinos’ 21-man squad is: Lachie Miller, Maika Sivo, Harry Newman, Ryan Hall, Brodie Croft, Jake Connor, Jarrod O’Connor, Tom Holroyd, Kallum Watkins, James McDonnell, Keenan Palasia, Chris Hankinson, Cooper Jenkins, Ethan O’Neill, Cameron Smith, Jeremiah Mata’utia, Danny Levi, Ned McCormack, Ben Littlewood, Tom Nicholson-Watton, George Brown.
Knights’ 21 is: Toa Mata’afa, Ben Jones-Bishop, Sam Wood, Scott Galeano, Ata Hingano, Liam Harris, Jack Martin, Paul McShane, Paul Vaughan, Josh Griffin, Jesse Dee, Jordan Thompson, Denive Balmforth, Xavier Va’a, Justin Sangare, Danny Richardson, Oli Field, Kieran Buchanan, John Sagaga, Nikau Williams, King Vuniyayawa.