Star signing Maika Sivo’s season-long knee injury was a huge blow to Leeds Rhinos – but also an opportunity for one of their brightest young talents.
Sivo, scorer of 105 tries in 115 NRL games for Parramatta Eels, suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear during Ash Handley’s testimonial game a month ago, ruling him out of the entire 2025 campaign.
Rather than switching Handley back to his familiar wing role, having trained throughout pre-season at centre, coach Brad Arthur instead gave an opportunity to academy product Riley Lumb and the 20-year-old has responded with three tries in as many games.
That takes his total of touchdowns, including a brace on his debut at Hull FC last April, to five in only seven appearances, one of which was cut short after a minute because of injury.
The Rhinos young star has also picked up two Sky Sports man of the match awards, including after last weekend’s 32-6 win at Salford Red Devils, when he scored Leeds’ first and third touchdowns.
“I stuck to my job, tough carries and finished my tries, so I did all right,” Lumb said of that performance.
And he insisted: “I just want to get as many games as I can and keep playing well every week. I have got a good opportunity now, so it’s about kicking on from here.”
Leeds Rhinos youngster previews Castleford Tigers game
One of our own! What a performance from Riley Lumb today, make sure you are there next Sunday at AMT Headingley to cheer on him and the team against Cas, kick off 3pm
Book now at https://t.co/5Ly9s1IdTg pic.twitter.com/sXN1a9TH8v— Leeds Rhinos (@leedsrhinos) February 22, 2025
Though his tries grabbed the headlines, Lumb was just as pleased with the way he handled some tricky catches under pressure.
“It is a big part of my job I need to nail, catching kicks on the full, so I was happy with that,” he reflected.
In a contrast of experience, Lumb has been playing on Leeds’ left, with Ryan Hall – now 37 and in his 19th season at first team level – on the other wing.
That provides the rookie with a golden opportunity to learn from a master. “He does the tough carries,” Lumb said of the six-time Grand Final winner.
“He works hard and he is always tracking back if there’s a break. I am just trying to replicate that.”
Rhinos hit back from 6-0 down inside two minutes at Salford to break their duck in Betfred Super League, seven days after an opening home loss to Wakefield Trinity.
Lumb felt it was “a good win, especially after last week”. He added: “We definitely bounced back and we’ve got to kick on and do it again on Sunday [against Castleford Tigers at AMT Headingley].
“We stayed composed after going 6-0 down. We knew what we needed to do to get back in it and we did that and came away with the win.
“It was big for us, coming off a loss we needed that to kick-start our season and hopefully we’ll kick on against Cas.
“We worked for each other, especially with the injuries we got. We had each others’ backs and it was good defence all game, except for that one try. Defence wins you games, if you do it well.”
Lumb is from Castleford and played junior rugby with local sides Townville Tigers and Lock Lane, so Sunday is a big game for him personally.
“I am looking forward to it,” he said of this weekend’s derby. “Hopefully I get another game against Cas, my hometown club and I play well against them, then we’ll see what happens for the rest of the season.
“It does mean a bit more. I was a Cas fan when I was younger, but not anymore. I just need to keep playing well every week and doing my job and hopefully I’ll get a few more games.”
