Rhinos hit by injury crisis: here's how long 9 stars including Jake Connor & Mikolaj Oledzki will be out
Leeds Rhinos are dealing with an injury pileup which will keep at least five of their most influential players out of Friday’s Super League opener at Leigh Leopards.
Man of Steel Jake Connor is ruled out with a knee injury picked up in training and loose-forward Cameron Smith has failed to recover from a knock sustained against Widnes Vikings in the Betfred Challenge Cup last Saturday. As expected, England prop Mikolaj Oledzki is sidelined by rib damage suffered in the same match, but hopes captain/centre Ash Handley (groin) and dynamic forward Keenan Palasia (knee) would return have been dashed.
With Maika Sivo not yet ready to return from a knee injury sustained 13 months ago, Max Simpson (anterior cruciate ligament) out for the entire season, Alfie Edgell (thigh) more than two months away from a playing comeback and new signing Jeremiah Mata’utia (knee) still unavailable, Leeds are without nine of their full-time squad for round one.
There are only two experienced, specialist halves on Rhinos’ books so the loss of Connor is a major blow. Arthur confirmed 18-year-old George Brown, who made his debut last week at full-back, will start on Friday.
Ironically, Connor wasn’t considered for the Cup tie because of concerns over Widnes’ artificial pitch, but was then hurt at training last Thursday. Arthur admitted: “It’s frustrating for Jake. We sat him out of the game and it’s maybe a bit of a lesson for us too. Sometimes you’ve got to take it as it comes. You try to look after blokes in games, then he gets injured at training.
“It’s one of those where he’s pushing for next week and he’ll do everything he can, but it’s a long season. It’s not like it’s round 27, it’s round one and two. If he’s right next week, we’ll play him. If he’s not, we’ll give him that extra time, but all the signs are him pushing towards next week.”
Oledzki took a blow to his ribs in the first half of last week’s win and is still in considerable pain. He will see a specialist next Monday and the coach said he could be out for anywhere from two weeks to a couple of months.
“It’s a day at a time, week at a time with him,” Arthur said. “It was quite nasty. Right now you’d say he’s two months away from playing, he’s in that much pain, but it can change. There’s not a lot you can do except rest and wait until the pain eases a bit and he gets to a stage where he can tolerate a bit of pain going into the game. As it stands right now he can hardly move.”
Last week’s game was Smith’s competitive return from a long-term back problem. He was replaced at half-time and Arthur said: “It’s a slight aggravation to his groin. If you’re playing a Grand Final this week you’d risk it, but it’s just round one. He’s probably only going to miss a week.”
Of the players who were unavailable against Widnes, Arthur added: “Keenan and Jerry are both pushing for next week or the following week. Ash is still recovering from his groin, he’s maybe a couple of weeks. Alfie is another 10 weeks and Max Simpson is gone for the season.”
Sivo has not yet played a competitive match for Rhinos, but is on track to feature in round two at home to York Knights a week on Friday. Arthur stated: “He trained really well in our last session last week and again yesterday. I have plenty of confidence, if he keeps ticking the boxes, he should be putting himself in the frame for selection.”
There is some good news for Rhinos. Chris Hankinson, who can play anywhere in the backs, is available following a broken nose and James McDonnell has unexpectedly been included in the 21-man squad just three weeks after suffering an ankle injury in a pre-season win against Bradford Bulls.
“James McDonnell has done a really good job to rehab himself,” Arthur said. “I am really proud of his attitude. If anyone, because he’s going to another club next year, wanted to doubt his commitment to the team, that injury was quite severe and he has rehabbed himself and got himself in a position where he’s ready to play this week, though he has got to get through training today.
“We will get a few back in the next couple of weeks. The guys who go out there this week have got a job to do, a jersey to represent and a team to get off to a good start.”