Leeds Rhinos boss reveals injury-prevention plan, makes concussion admission, tips rookie to bounce back

Eleven members of Rhinos’ full-time squad are on the casualty list, including three forwards with long-term concussions and two backs who picked up injuries in the win over London Broncos last week. Hopes centre Harry Newman could return after two games out with a back problem were dashed when he was missing from the 21 named yesterday (Tuesday).

Hooker Corey Johnson, who joined Bradford Bulls in February on what was described as a “season-long loan” has been drafted into the initial squad and teenager Jack Smith is included for the first time. He is one of five 19 year olds in contention to feature this weekend, two of whom have yet to play a first team game.

Other players ruled out are winger David Fusitu’a (knee), centre Paul Momirovski (ankle), stand-off Brodie Croft (groin), prop Tom Holroyd (concussion), second-row James Bentley (concussion), second-row Morgan Gannon (concussion), prop Kieran Hudson (hamstring), prop James Donaldson (neck), centre Max Simpson (knee) and winger Riley Lumb (hamstring). Most of those resulted from impacts which Smith feels could not have been avoided, but he stressed the club are working hard to prevent future problems.

He said: “Some players have got a history of injuries; usually the most predictive measure of future injuries is previous injuries. Trying to get your younger players to come through relatively unscathed gives you your best chance to have a safe future and players playing a lot of games.

“We have had heaps of players who have played nearly all the games as well, so it is an interesting one. We are always looking at why things have happened and trying to learn something from it for our own programming and the benefit of the individual moving forward. It’s never a case of just bad luck, we are always looking into it.”

Assessing the current situation, Smith added: “When I arrived here a couple of years ago there was a bunch of injuries then. We have made good gains in reducing certain injuries, but the extended concussions are really hard to account for and no one can really tell you how to reduce those, other than not to play. There are some things you can do in terms of strengthening necks and technique, but those are really difficult ones - you can’t really account for those.”

Of Rhinos’ other injuries, Smith reckons most are the result of incidents which inevitably happen at times in a combat sport. He pointed out: “Harry Newman got a massive hit in the back and had a disc issue there.

“Ash Handley had rib cartilage damage to his ribs from another impact; some of them are just part and parcel of the battle and the combat. We haven’t really had too many soft tissue injuries, the incidence of those have been very low.”

One exception to that is 19-year-old Lumb, who is facing what Smith said will be a “lengthy layoff” with a hamstring problem sustained in the opening minute of last week’s game. That came just five days after he scored two tries in a man of the match performance on his debut in Leeds’ win at Hull FC.

Smith said: “Riley is a great young kid, he lives for playing footy and he has got so much physical growth he needs to go through. The upside of it is he has a lengthy layoff to focus on some strength and size and mature as a kid as well.

“It is disappointing for sure because he has shown us what he can do, not only in Super League but in pre-season and training. He has really done well so we are disappointed for him, but we will support him. It is a bump in the road, but he will be back for sure.”

Meanwhile, Johnson’s loan spell at Bradford appears to have ended after just one game, but he could make a quick return to the Betfred Championship. The 23-year-old had a long spell on the sidelines after suffering a concussion playing for Rhinos’ reserves - when Bulls did not have a fixture - at the start of his time with Bradford.

He played for Rhinos’ second-string last week, but has been linked with a loan move to Halifax Panthers, who are Leeds’ dual-registration partner club. “There are some discussions around where Corey will be playing, but they are on-going,” Smith said.