Leeds Rhinos star Jake Connor makes 'good to go' pledge & issues appeal to fans for St Helens play-off
Returning star Jake Connor says he is “good to go” for Leeds Rhinos’ sudden-death play-off against St Helens on Saturday.
Connor missed Rhinos’ final two games of the regular season, against Catalans Dragons and Wigan Warriors, after suffering a rib injury in a win at his previous club Huddersfield Giants three weeks ago. Leeds lost both those matches and lacked a cutting edge on attack, so Connor’s comeback will give them a major lift against their bogey side.
“I am good to go,” the Dream Team play-maker confirmed. “It has healed nicely so I am ready to go and I feel like it’s the start of the season. I feel fresh, I trained [on Monday] and my body feels good, my legs feel good so hopefully my lungs will hold up on Saturday.”
Connor was ever-present before the injury, playing in 27 consecutive games. He admitted: “I don’t like missing, even if it’s one. I try not to mess my rhythm up, but it is what it is. It has probably done me the world of good having a bit of a rest. I had played every game this season and every pre-season game so hopefully it’s not a bad thing.”
Rhinos have lost three of this season’s four meetings with Saints and Connor conceded: “I think they are probably one of the teams that has not seen the best of us this year. We have made way too many errors when we’ve played them in the past so we know what we are coming up against, but we also know what we’ve got and what we are good at. It is going to be a tasty game and one I am looking forward to.
“We definitely believe. It is on us to dictate what we want to do and how we want to play. If everyone turns up in the right mindframe and sticks to the plan, I am sure we can do it.”
Saturday is Rhinos’ first home play-off since 2017 and Connor reckons the crowd could play a big part. He said: “I’ve been on the receiving side of it and they definitely make a difference. Hopefully we can pack it out and make it a great atmosphere.”
After some initial scepticism from fans when he was signed last autumn, Connor has won over Rhinos’ support with his consistently impressive performances this year. “I just like to go out and give it my all,” he added. “I’ve done that this year and obviously they recognise that, which is nice. They are behind me now and hopefully they can get behind us on Saturday.”
A win this weekend would be another memorable moment for Connor following his Dream Team selection and Rhinos player of the year honour. “I’ve never been in [the Dream Team] before and it takes some doing, so it has been a great year for me, but obviously we’ve got bigger things to come,” he stated.
“The Rhinos award is a nice one and it’s named after Rob Burrow, which is special. It was one of the proudest moments of my career picking up that award. From where I was in pre-season to where I am now is a massive turnaround.”