Leeds Rhinos' Nene Macdonald set to play v Hull FC: Harry Newman and James Bentley getting close says coach
Off-season signing Nene Macdonald has a “good chance” of making his Leeds Rhinos debut this week - and Harry Newman and James Bentley aren’t far behind, coach Rohan Smith says.
A quad muscle injury, suffered playing for Papua New Guinea against England at the World Cup, has kept Macdonald on the sidelines since last November, but he is included in Rhinos’ initial squad for Friday’s visit of Hull FC.
Smith said the three-quarter has “ticked off all the return to play measures and testing and whatnot” and has had “a good few sessions” training with the team.
“He is there or thereabouts,” said the coach, who refused to reveal what position Macdonald will play when he returns.
He will wear the number four jersey, but Smith insisted: “He is a centre or winger and I think the guys that played centre last week did a decent job.
“I think a lot of the skills he has apply equally whether you play centre or wing. He played mostly as a winger in his NRL career and has played full-back and centre as well.
“He played at Leigh last year in the centres, but if he had played on the wing he’d have had a big year too.”
Macdonald’s likely return is a boost for Rhinos after their heavy loss at Warrington Wolves in Betfred Super League round one.
Centre Harry Newman (hamstring), prop Mikolaj Oledzki (shoulder) and second-row James Bentley (knee) have also yet to play this year - along with full-back Luke Hooley (ankle) - and are not included in the squad for Friday.
But Smith confirmed: “They are progressing well. James Bentley trained really well [on Wednesday], Mikolaj trained well and Harry’s going well.”
Newman and Bentley are expected to return before Oledzki and have not been ruled out of next weekend’s trip to Betfred Super League champions St Helens.
The coach added: “Hopefully [they’ll be back] in the next couple of weeks. Their injuries are a bit out of the ordinary so it’s a little hard to tell. We’ll make sure they’ve done a suitable amount of full team training before they are back.
“They haven’t done a lot [at the moment]. Next week would be a possibility rather than a probability.”