Leeds Rhinos news: Jake Connor injury extent revealed & why Presley Cassell won't play v Catalans Dragons
Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur has provided an update on injured star Jake Connor, explained Presley Cassell’s absence from this week’s squad and revealed a senior player will undergo surgery next week.
Man of Steel favourite Connor suffered a rib injury during last week’s 26-0 win at Huddersfield Giants and isn’t in Rhinos’ 21-man squad to face Catalans Dragons at AMT Headingley tomorrow (Thursday). Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today, Arthur confirmed Connor could have played if Leeds had a Grand Final this week, but insisted there’s “no need” to risk him.
He said: “He is a bit tender, his ribs. He has been in every game so it’s probably a good opportunity for us to sit him out. He wouldn’t have been able to do his job properly, we’ve got guys in the squad who have come in and done the job and we need to stick with that mentality.
“We need guys close to full fitness and Jake’s nowhere near. It is a good opportunity for Sinny [Jack Sinfield] and the times he has stepped in he has done a really good job for us. We could have needled Jake up and got him through, but fortunately we don’t have to worry about it.”
Of the severity of the injury, Arthur revealed: “We didn’t even bother getting it scanned. Break, fracture, cartilage, it’s all the same - ribs are ribs. It’s a pain threshold thing - Ryan Hall’s had one, Ash Handley and a few of the boys have had them.
“You can needle them up and get them going in a week or some might be two weeks. We didn’t need to put him out there this week, we’ve got Sinny who’s capable of doing a very good job for us and we need to back the depth of our squad.”
Arthur said the first-choice scrum-half “could be” available for the visit to Wigan Warriors in nine days’ time, but stressed: “I just want to get through Thursday and see how we go, then we’ll reassess what we need to do next week.
“Jack wants to be a regular in the team each week and he is ready to go. He played well in reserve grade the other night, especially in the second half, set up a couple of tries and kicked some goals. His confidence is nice and high and he trained really well for us on Monday.”
Teenager Presley Cassell, who has played in Rhinos’ last seven games, won’t feature tomorrow as fellow props Keenan Palasia and Tom Holroyd return from injury. Arthur explained: “We've got a few forwards back this week and probably weren’t expecting him to play so many games back-to-back.
“He’s a young bloke and it’s tough in the middle. He got bashed up a bit last week so it’s good for him physically to go back. We've got our academy semi-final this weekend and it helps strengthen those guys and gives them a boost. It’ll just be good for him to take a bit of the physicality out of it for a week or two. He has certainly proved if we need to call upon him again, he can do a great job for us.”
The coach also confirmed co-captain Cameron Smith, who has missed the last six matches with a back problem, will undergo surgery next week. He said: “He has been carrying it, but he has still got plenty of time left in his career and just needs to get it sorted. He’ll be good to go on day one of pre-season.”