Leeds Rhinos coach explains Alfie Edgell over Riley Lumb selection decision with 'only fair' comment
Leading try scorer Riley Lumb’s first team absence has been explained by coach Brad Arthur.
Lumb has touched down 11 times in 17 senior appearances this year and played in the opening 15 Betfred Super League rounds before being left out of the home win against Leigh Leopards. The winger was replaced for that game by another 20-year-old, Alfie Edgell, who kept his place when Rhinos won 14-8 at league leaders Hull KR yesterday (Sunday).
That was only Edgell’s fifth appearance in the matchday 17 this year and he was heavily involved in Rhinos’ winning try. Explaining his selection decision, Arthur said: “I never thought Riley would get 15 consecutive games at the start of the season.
“He was given an opportunity [by an injury to Maika Sivo], made the most of it and has done a really good job. Alfie was injured with bits and pieces throughout the pre-season. I just thought Riley needed a week off from playing in the weekly grind and getting targeted a bit and bashed up.
“It’s better for his development and if you put Alfie there for a week, I think it’s only fair we give him a couple of weeks to see if he can progress like Riley. Then once we get into the games at the end of the year, I have got a decision to make on who’s going to be the best option there.”
The decisive touchdown against Willie Peter’s side was scored by Lachie Miller - after he handled twice in the build-up - with Edgell, Jake Connor and Ash Handley also involved. Talking through it, Arthur said: “We’ve got a lot of players in our team who like to play a bit of footy and it’s just making sure it is within our framework and we are prepared to back it up with our defence and work hard for each other and we maybe take a couple of chances here or there that other teams wouldn’t take.
“It was really good work from Lachie, who is at you all the time and always playing. We’ve worked with him on minimising his errors and I think he has done a really good job on that in the last six months. He’s not coming up with the big brain explosions.
“It was a good play from him to start it and finish it; then young Alfie - he was under a bit of pressure coming in, he has not had a lot of opportunities, but he had the nerve to back himself. Grixy [assistant-coach Scott Grix] does a good job with our guys at training - they practice that a lot, linking the back-three if the forwards can front-load their effort and get the opposition kicking in a position where we can catch it on the full and in decent field position.”
Lumb, Jack Sinfield, Andy Ackers and Presley Cassell - who were in Rhinos’ initial 21 ahead of the Super League game, all featured in the reserves’ 24-12 win over Hull KR, played immediately afterwards on the same pitch. Rhinos are top of the table with three games left to play. Try scorers were Jacob Hardy, George Brown, Zak Lloyd and Cassell, all converted by Sinfield.