Explained: why Andy Ackers and Luis Roberts missed Leeds Rhinos' 32-4 win v Castleford Tigers

Ackers’ absence led to a late call into the 17 for Corey Johnson who had been set to play on dual-registration with Halifax Panthers the same evening. Full-back Alfie Edgell replaced Roberts, playing on the right-wing.

Smith revealed Ackers was pulled out of the team less than 24 hours before kick-off. Speaking after the game, he said: “[I was told] about 7.34pm yesterday. It was a delayed onset concussion. We had no thought of it until that phone call.

“It was delayed symptoms from a knock last week. It was only reported as a concussion on Friday. I think he is doing quite well, we’ll check again [on Sunday] and hopefully he will be able to resume the return to play process, but that’s in the hands of the medical team.”

Rhinos have no game next weekend so Ackers could potentially be available for their next match, at Hull FC on Saturday, June 15, but Smith feels they are well covered at hooker if not. He said: “Corey did well.

“The plan was to start Ackers this week, but it was a late change. The way Jarrod O’Connor stepped into that late change, I thought he was phenomenal with his line speed and his intent defensively, particularly and he gave good, solid service as he normally does, He led the way with the energy and people followed him.

“Corey has had a tough go of it through the pre-season. We signed Ackers and that pushed him down the pecking order a little bit. He has had a few injuries and a concussion that stood him out, but he has been outstanding in the last couple of games for Halifax.

“He has really done well and played strong so it was a good lead in for him and he did a good, solid job when he came on. He looked lively, The result was largely taken care of by that point, but I thought he did well. He’s a good kid, I’ve got a lot of respect for Corey.”

The win over Tigers was the first time Roberts had not featured in Rhinos’ 17 this season, though he was 18th man. Smith revealed: “He has been carrying a groin injury on and off for most of the year.

“He only just made it into last week’s game and this week was a bit of a disrupted prep again so I thought [we’d go with] Alfie. He has done that job in the outside-backs a couple of times now. I thought with Paul Momirovski - who reads the game so well - on his inside, he’d be able to get on the end of that and he did a terrific job. He is a great young kid.”