Leeds Rhinos news: Brad Arthur makes Salford Red Devils loan pledge
More Leeds Rhinos players could feature on loan for Salford Red Devils this season, coach Brad Arthur says.
Rhinos’ Riley Lumb and Ben Littlewood both played for Salford in an 80-6 defeat at Hull FC two weeks ago. That was an emergency one-week loan to help cash-strepped Salford fulfil the fixture.
It was forward Littlewood’s first Betfred Super League start and he came into Leeds’ side for the following week’s derby at Castleford Tigers, as well as Thursday’s home clash with Hull KR. Rhinos second-rower Toby Warren has been on loan at Salford since April as part of the deal which brought loose-forward Kallum Watkins back to Leeds for his second spell with the club.
Salford’s financial problems have led to the departure of many of their most experienced players, with winger Chris Hankinson and forward Joe Shorrocks also joining Rhinos. No Leeds players will turn out for the Red Devils this weekend, but Arthur insisted: “We are happy to help where we can as long as it’s in the best interest of our players.”
He said: “We made a decision two weeks ago to give two players to Salford and Ben Littlewood benefited from it. He got 80 minutes out playing for Salford and last weekend I was able to trust him, he’d got some game time and he was able to do 50 minutes for us. It was really handy for him so if we get in a position where they need the assistance, we will be certainly looking to do it and we’ll get something out of it for our players as well.”