It has been an eventful few days for Leeds Rhinos - and not in a positive way - as they prepare for Friday’s home clash with Huddersfield Giants.

Rhinos are off top spot in Betfred Super League following last week’s 24-4 loss at Wigan Warriors, star stand-off Brodie Croft has become the fifth senior player to announce he is leaving at the end of this season and in-form full-back Lachie Miller is beginning a long suspension. Here’s five talking points.

1: Un-Lachie. Miller’s three-match ban is a shame for him, Rhinos and Super League, given he is the competition’s current best player. There wasn’t much in the incident, involving Wigan’s Oli Partington, but the RFL have been consistent in cracking down on what’s deemed to be “unnecessary contact with a player who is injured or may be injured”.

Partington wasn’t hurt and the referee saw no reason to stop play so grade E seems harsh, but the positive is it will give rookie Fergus McCormack an opportunity to make his Super League debut on Friday. The 20-year-old missed almost all of last season because of injury, but is an exciting runner with ball-playing skills. Credit to coach Brad Arthur for trusting in youth rather than taking the easy option of switching veteran Chris Hankinson to full-back.

Leeds Rhinos' Lachie Miller seen scoring his only try of the season so far, away to Friday's opponents Huddersfield Giants last month. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.

placeholder image — Leeds Rhinos' Lachie Miller seen scoring his only try of the season so far, away to Friday's opponents Huddersfield Giants last month. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.

2: Travel sickness. Even with Miller suspended and Tom Holroyd and Jack Bird injured, Rhinos should be too good for Giants, who they hammered 56-22 last month. They need to be because the loss to Wigan raised some doubts.

They’ve lost half of their eight away games this season in all competitions - which isn’t championship form - and there’s a question mark around their ability to win the really big matches. That said, they were on a five-game hot streak and it was a disappointing rather than dire performance, but home form is what has got them into the top-two and they can’t afford to let that slip.

3: Record pace. Winger Maika Sivo is the first Rhinos player to score 20 tries in a season since Ash Handley finished with that total in 2020. Handley played 19 games that year and Sivo has featured in 11 so far.

Leeds Rhinos' Maika Sivo is a try-scoring phenomenon. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

Danny McGuire holds Leeds’ record for tries in a summer era campaign with 39 in 2004. His 20th came in mid-June in his 16th game of the season, so Sivo is ahead in terms of strike rate and time. Despite that, the Fijian is facing criticism - including from the Man of Steel panel - over other aspects of his game, which is rather joyless.

There are areas he could be better in, particularly defensively, but he scores more tries than he concedes. Sivo’s main job is to touch the ball down over the opposition’s line and on current form, nobody does that better. He owes a lot to the rest of the team, but Rhinos - and Super League - fans should enjoy him while they can, because such prolific try scorers don’t come along very often.

4: Bye bye Brodie. It will be interesting to see what reaction Croft receives from Rhinos fans at Friday’s game following this week’s announcement. If it’s negative that’ll be unfair because at the moment he is still a Leeds player and one who has come up with some big moments over this and the previous two seasons.

As a professional athlete Croft is entitled to get the best deal possible for himself and his family in what is a flimsy and relatively short career. It’s a shame he is leaving, especially to a rival, but what matters now is how he is replaced.

George Brown, pictured, is a likely long-term replacement for Brodie Croft who is leaving Leeds Rhinos at the end of this season. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

Rhinos have been aware for a while they may need a new stand-off and work is going on behind the scenes. Understudy George Brown’s time will come, but the club need to pull a rabbit out of the hat for the next couple of years because a lot of supporters will measure their ambition by how Croft - and Mikolaj Oledzki - are replaced.

5: No try explanation. Rhinos were second-best, but a talking point from the defeat at Wigan was an incident in the first half when Harry Newman chased a kick, lost possession of the ball behind Wigan’s line and Ryan Hall followed up to touch down.

Referee Liam Moore said ‘no try’ and video official Jack Smith agreed, without looking at Hall’s grounding. It appeared the ball had gone backwards from Newman, but - asked by Yorkshire Evening Post - the RFL insist the decision was correct.