Leeds Rhinos news: teenager set for Challenge Cup debut as star duo not risked v Widnes Vikings
Teenager George Brown is set to make his Leeds Rhinos debut in their first competitive game of the season.
Coach Brad Arthur will name a 21-man squad at noon today (Thursday), but confirmed Brown is poised to feature in Saturday’s Betfred Challenge Cup third round tie at Widnes Vikings. Rhinos’ reigning academy player of the year will get a taste of first team action in place of either full-back Lachie Miller or scrum-half Jake Connor, who won’t be risked.
Brown is a specialist half, but Arthur revealed he “could start at full-back” this week. He said: “He has played a few different roles for us, so we are pretty comfortable. He has done a really good job for us in the halves in the trials and played a fair bit of full-back for us last year. He is pretty versatile and we are excited about giving him a chance.
“He is probably more of a runner and a free-flowing player than he is an organiser, but he has done all right when we’ve asked him to manage the team in games. I think he can play both roles, but he just likes a little bit more freedom and flexibility around his game.”
Brown, who is contracted until the end of next year, joined Rhinos’ scholarship from community club Dewsbury Celtic ahead of the 2022 campaign. After a season playing rugby union in 2023/24, he returned to Leeds and has been identified by club insiders as a potential star of the future after impressing at under-18s and reserves level. He scored the only try and was player of the match in last year’s reserves Grand Final win against Warrington Wolves and featured in pre-season games against Wakefield Trinity and Bradford Bulls in the build up to the 2026 campaign.
Miller and Connor are fit, but will be saved for next Friday’s Betfred Super League opener at Leigh Leopards. “They could play, but I won’t play them purely because of the six-day turnaround and the surface, which won’t suit those guys,” Arthur said. “But we are going in with a good, strong lineup and a couple of kids will get an opportunity, which is good for them.”
Max Simpson (knee) and Alfie Edgell (thigh) are on the long-term casualty list, but Arthur said other players who picked up knocks in pre-season - including Chris Hankinson (broken nose), Ash Handley (groin), James McDonnell (ankle), Keenan Palasia (knee) and Jeremiah Mata’utia (knee) - will be “really, really close for round one or round two.”
Former Parramatta Eels winger Maika Sivo, who hasn’t played a competitive game for Rhinos after rupturing anterior cruciate ligaments 13 months ago, will also sit out Saturday’s tie, according to Arthur. He said: “He won’t play [Super League] round one. The plan at the moment is he is on track and on target to be ready for round two and from there it’s whether he is fit enough for the next week. If he’s not ready for round two we won’t risk him.”