Leeds Rhinos Challenge Cup opponents confirmed as Brad Arthur stresses 'no gimmies' stance
Leeds Rhinos’ opening Challenge Cup opponents have been confirmed - and coach Brad Arthur insists places must be earned for the tie against non-league opposition.
London outfit West Warriors, of the Southern Conference, beat British Army 36-18 at Wasps FC in Acton today (Saturday) to book a dream meeting with Leeds. All 12 Betfred Super League teams were seeded to be drawn away when they enter the competition in round three, but Rhinos and Wests are in discussions about possibly moving the tie - in two weeks’ time - to AMT Headingley.
Some academy/reserves players have been training with Rhinos’ full-time squad in pre-season and will get an opportunity off the bench against Wigan Warriors in Ash Handley’s testimonial game on Sunday, having featured in the Boxing Day defeat of Wakefield Trinity. With Super League beginning the week after the Cup tie, Arthur has a selection decision to make ahead of the Wests game and he insisted: “I haven’t got too far down the track with that. I don’t want to take anything away from what the focus is this week, which is Ash and his game, but we, as a team and a club, need to understand the privilege of playing in the Leeds Rhinos jersey.
“I won’t be handing out jerseys just for the sake of it. Every time we play we should be playing to win, we have got to develop that winning culture and enjoy the feeling of winning. I am not thinking too much about the Challenge Cup at the moment, but we will be picking to win and I’ll be picking blokes who deserve to be in the team.”