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Leeds Rhinos’ Brad Arthur delivers injury news and confirms Salford Red Devils stance

Leeds Rhinos Brad Arthur

Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur has stressed he would not want to sign players from Salford if that meant being part of the Red Devils’ demise.

Salford were placed in special measures by the RFL late last year after receiving an advance in central funding. The governing body subsequently ordered them to cut their budget by £800,000.

With player sales being the only realistic way of achieving that, a host of Super League clubs – including Rhinos – have been linked with the Red Devils’ top stars.

However, clubs have now been notified by the RFL of a takeover bid by an overseas consortium, raising hopes Salford can go into the new season with their existing squad.

And that was welcomed by Arthur today, at a press conference to preview Sunday’s Ash Handley testimonial game against Wigan Warriors.

The coach said he has left transfer dealings to sporting director Ian Blease, who joined Leeds from Salford last year, but he stressed: “We are really happy with our roster at the moment.

“We are always looking to improve it, but we aren’t also going to be preying on a club, trying to be part of their demise either.

“Everyone is hopeful they can continue to play with a strong side throughout this competition.”

Though Rhinos have brought in five players during the off-season, Arthur admitted he would like more “depth” in his squad.

“You always need that, because you are going to get injuries,” he said. “But in saying that, we’ve probably got a lot of young blokes who are looking forward to their opportunity.

“I am pretty comfortable with where we sit across the field from one-13, then there’s guys who can cover a couple of different spots off the bench. I am pretty comfortable with where we are at.”

Leeds Rhinos will be without at least two of their first 17 for the Super League round one derby at home to Wakefield Trinity on Saturday, February 15.

Hooker Jarrod O’Connor suffered knee ligament damage against Wakefield on Boxing Day and full-back Lachie Miller has now also been ruled out.

Miller missed Rhinos’ final two games of 2024 because of a hamstring problem and suffered a recurrence in the off-season.

He had hoped to be available for round one, but Arthur revealed: “He is carrying a calf injury at the moment.

“I don’t think he will be right for round one, he may be a couple of weeks after that. It’s not like a season-ender, but calves can be six-eight-week injuries so he may be back for round four onwards.”

Back-up full-back Alfie Edgell is also on the casualty list, with a broken jaw, so new signing Jake Connor will start in the number one role on Sunday.

Morgan Gannon is set to make his return from a year-long injury layoff in that game. The second-rower has not played since suffering a concussion in a pre-season clash with Hull KR on February 4 last year.

That was his second head knock in successive warm-up matches, following a similar issue at the end of 2022 and he was subsequently stood down for the whole campaign.

“It has been a long time for him,” the Leeds Rhinos boss said. “I have yet to see him play a game live, I am looking forward to it and I think all the boys are quite excited for him to get back out on the field.

“All the signs have been really positive from him. To help him out, we are going to start him and run him around for 20-25 minutes, then give him a good rest and put him back on later in the second-half, so we don’t ask him to do too much in his first game back.

“We think after the warm-up, starting him will be the best thing for him, physically and mentally. Instead of him sitting around waiting, we’ll get him straight out there and into it.”

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