Lachie Miller playing key Leeds Rhinos pre-season role despite injury

Lachie Miller might be carrying an injury but he is still playing an important role in Leeds Rhinos’ pre-season campaign. Miller has been struggling with the hamstring injury he picked up towards the end of last season and while he is making good progress he hasn’t returned to full training just yet.

However, while he continues his recovery he has been working closely with youngster Alfie Edgell over the last few weeks. Edgell ended last season in the number one role and will likely get another run out at full-back on Boxing Day when Leeds host Wakefield Trinity in their annual festive challenge.

Whether Edgell will have the opportunity to start the season in the position might just depend on Miller’s recovery and fitness, but the Australian is doing all he can to ensure Edgell is ready, should he be required, it seems.

“Even though he’s injured Lachie has been so helpful for me, especially this pre-season,” Edgell told Leeds Rhinos’ official site. “He’s literally standing behind me in training, tipping me up and it’s a lot easier to see things when you’re actually in the thick of it. He’s been really beneficial for me.

The 20-year-old made 15 appearances for the Rhinos last season and scored six tries as he broke through and announced himself at Headingley. He’ll be hoping to have even more of a say this time around then, and he’ll also be determined to put his best foot forward against Wakefield.

“It’s gone really fast but I’m looking forward to it,” he said about the friendly. “It should be a good game and they’ve obviously got a really good side for this year.

“I think it’s really beneficial for us going into the second half of pre-season, you kind of show where we’re at and what we need to work on and we’ll take that into the second friendly at Wigan.”

On pre-season itself, Edgell added: “It’s been really good. The Fridays have always been the hardest, well Mondays and Fridays, so you start off fast and you finish the week strong. I’ve really enjoyed the Friday sessions, they’re really rewarding the feeling you get after it. We’re learning to play rugby while fatigued and we’re getting there.

“I think everyone has [stepped up], we all came back in really good shape and that means we can play more rugby and do less conditioning because we all came back fit.”