Leeds Rhinos star Morgan Gannon's 'kick on' vow ahead of Salford Red Devils clash
Fit-again Leeds Rhinos forward Morgan Gannon has pledged to “kick on” over the next few games after putting a year of frustration behind him.
Last week’s home loss to Wakefield Trinity was a shock and disappointment to Rhinos after an encouraging pre-season, but for Gannon, just being on the field represented a huge step forward. Though he started in the previous week’s Challenge Cup win against amateurs Wests Warriors, his substitute appearance against Wakefield was the first time he had played in Betfred Super League since a 46-0 win at home to Castleford Tigers on September 22, 2023.
Successive concussions in pre-season games ahead of the 2024 campaign led to 21-year-old second-rower being stood down for the entire year. That came after a similar setback cost him a place in the 2022 Grand Final, but he got through the opening two competitive matches of this term unscathed and retains his place in the squad for Saturday’s trip to Salford Red Devils.
“It is a lot better to be back than to be sitting on the sidelines,” Gannon admitted of his return to action. “It would have been better with a win [last week], but just being back around the boys in a Super League environment is good, I am enjoying it and I definitely want to push on in the next couple of weeks.”
Gannon confirmed he came through last week’s game “unscathed” after entering the action as a second half substitute. He said: “I got a few games in pre-season, but it is different in Super League. I hadn’t tasted that since the end of 2023 and it’s obviously a step up from pre-season games so the nerves were there, but once I got into the game, I was all right.”
Gannon went close to scoring a couple of times and was praised by Brad Arthur in the coach’s post-match press conference. He added: “There’s definitely stuff I want to add to my game and improve on, but I thought I did my job off the bench. I am looking to kick on and build on it game-by-game.”
It looked like Gannon might have snatched a vital try late in the contest, but the decision was handed on to video referee Liam Rush who backed up Aaron Moore’s on-field call of ‘no try’. Gannon didn’t have any complaints, reflecting: “I knew I had grounded it, but it didn’t know if it was on the line. I lost it then, but didn’t know if I got far enough over the line to get there. It was close, but I can’t really argue.”
After the loss in round one, Rhinos will travel to Salford determined to make amends. “It was disappointing, probably a bit of a shock for us,” Gannon admitted of last week’s setback. “We trained really hard in pre-season and played well in the friendlies, but we probably just got taken off our feet in the first 20 minutes by them.
“We definitely got in the grind after, but we need to dust ourselves off and go again. They are back to full-strength this week so it’s like round one for them, they will be up for it and we definitely should be after our result. We need to go and get that win.”
Salford finished fourth in last year’s table and their 22-16 win on home turf in August was one of the most costly results in Leeds’ season. They will have their first-choice squad available after a takeover of the club was approved this week.
“They are an unpredictable team. so we have to be ready for anything they throw at us,” Gannon warned. “For us, this year we are focusing on ourselves first. Whatever team we put out, we play the same way and do it to the best of our ability. That makes it hard for the opposition, so we’ll focus on ourselves first.”