ACL blow mars Leeds Rhinos win v Bradford Bulls in Cameron Smith testimonial

Centre Max Simpson returned to action last summer after three years on the casualty list with anterior cruciate knee ligament damage. He limped off late in Saturday’s game with what was feared to be a similar injury to his other knee.

The 21-year-old is set to undergo scans, but an ACL tear would rule him out for the entire 2026 campaign, which begins in two weeks’ time. The huge setback came two days short of a year after winger Maika Sivo suffered an ACL rupture in a pre-season game. He has not played since, but is expected to be back on the field next month.

Simpson was one of four Leeds players hurt during the game. Centre Handley, who returned from groin surgery, was being assessed afterwards, having a sustained similar issue. Winger Chris Hankinson suffered a broken nose and second-row James McDonnell hobbled off with ankle damage.

Simpson signed a new three-year contract last month and was promoted to number 18 on Rhinos’ squad list. Speaking after the game, coach Brad Arthur was clearly upset by the rookie’s latest setback. He said: “Max will have to go and get scans, but it is a suspected ACL, unfortunately.

“No one likes injuries, but that kid has had a rough trot. He had some good, strong carries and he obviously can play. He’s a kid, he can’t be any more resilient than he is, but hopefully this makes him nice and tough and he bites down on the bit. He has got a career there, hopefully he can stay strong and push through with it.

“He’s only young. No one likes to see it, but unfortunately it’s part of sport. It’s a tough injury to deal with and he has had a series of injuries in his career, but he is a good young kid. We’ve signed him for three years and we are going to back him.”

Of the other casualties, Arthur confirmed: “It looks like Chris has a broken nose, but we can bandage that up and kick on in a couple of weeks. Ash had a bit of a twinge to his groin so we need to get some scans. With Macca, we need to check for a syndesmosis.”

Handley underwent groin surgery in the off-season. Arthur said: “It’s hard before you get a scan, but they are reasonably confident it is a different area.”

Second-row Ben Littlewood was a late withdrawal from the team and joined props Keenan Palasia and Jeremiah Matau’tia on the injury list. Arthur said: “Keenan has a niggle in his knee. He’s not far away, whether he plays in the Challenge Cup game, he should be right for [Super League] round one. Jerry is probably round one or round two, with his knee.”

Of Littlewood, Arthur revealed: “Our final session, on Thursday, got a bit heated and there was a fair bit of collision going on. The boys were a bit restless, ready to play - and he ended up with 12 stitches.”