Leeds Rhinos v St Helens latest team news as star's return confirmed & new injury disclosed

Coach Brad Arthur confirmed Ackers comes into the 17 in place of suspended prop Tom Holroyd. Friday’s game will be Ackers’ first senior appearance since suffering a hamstring injury during Rhinos’ Challenge Cup defeat at Saints in March.

He has been in the initial 21-man squad for the past four first team fixtures, but not selected as Arthur went with Jarrod O’Connor as his lone hooker. “It is a good opportunity for him,” Arthur said. “Jarrod ran for nine kilometres and was over 104 metres per minute in the last game, for 80 minutes. We just want a little back up around Jarrod.

“I have said all the way through I am pretty keen on having an 80-minute hooker in the squad; it just helps with your forward rotation, but I think this week it is a good idea to have Andy in there just to look after Jarrod.”

Half-back Jack Sinfield is not in the 21 after playing for Rhinos’ reserves at Hull KR last Sunday. Arthur revealed: “He has been carrying an ankle complaint for a little while, but he is probably too tough for his own good. We’ve just made the decision to have a week off his feet and we will reassess it next week. It is nothing major, he has kept playing through it, but we are at the stage where we don’t need to run the risk at the moment.”

Twenty-year-old forward Ben Littlewood has been included in Rhinos’ initial squad for the first time in 2025, having recovered from hamstring surgery. He made one substitute appearance last season and, along with fellow home-grown rookies Tom Nicholson-Watton, is a player who could get an opportunity when Sam Lisone leaves Leeds to join Hull FC next term.

“He has had a really disrupted pre-season and season,” Arthur said of Littlewood. “We had some high hopes for him to get a few more opportunities this year than he has been presented with. We also want to take it slowly with him, but he is developing nicely. He is a tall, rangy, good style of a back-rower, but can also play in the middle. At some stage it’d be nice to see where these guys are at and maybe he is getting close to an opportunity.”

Nicholson-Watton has been sidelined since May with a stress fracture of an ankle. “He is a little bit away, but he is back running,” Arthur added. “Tom is reliable, you know what you are going to get from him. He is a really good team player.”

Leeds Rhinos: from Miller, Newman, Handley, Hall, Croft, Oledzki, Ackers, Palasia, Bentley, McDonnell, Smith, O’Connor, Lisone, Jenkins, Connor, Edgell, Lumb, Littlewood, Clark-Wood, Watkins, Cassell.

St Helens: from Feldt, Percival, Bennison, Sailor, Lomax, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Knowles, Mbye, Whitley, Agnatius Paasi, Wingfield, Delaney, Stephens, Burns, Robertson, Whitby, Dagnall, Davies.

Referee: Jack Smith (Wigan). Kick-off: Friday, 8pm.