Rohan Smith explains the absence of exciting youngster and confirms winger isn’t injured

Asides from the obvious injured players like Mikolaj Oledzki, Luke Hooley and Cameron Smith and those late back from the Rugby League World Cup such as Rhyse Martin and James Bentley, almost every Leeds Rhinos player has had minutes in their first two games of pre-season.

However, there is one youngster who has missed most and that is young hooker Corey Johnson and Rohan Smith confirmed he is still recovering from nasty back surgery:

“He had back surgery in September or October. He had a disc repair in his lower back. He’s almost in full training. He’s still being monitored a bit but Corey won’t play in the next few weeks. I have a very high opinion of him.

“I think he can be a long time Super League player as a hooker or a half. He has gone through a lot with his body being banged up.

“He showed at Magic that he can dig in. He will go into the reserves and then we will determine what the best path is for him.”

This comes as he confirmed that Liam Tindall wasn’t injured despite having to go off for a spell against Leigh Leopards on Saturday:

“He’s okay, he got a bang in the eye. He went through HIA protocol and he was totally fine so we got him back out there because he is competing for a spot.”

It was a good day in terms of injuries as well for Smith and his side:

“At this stage we have a few dings, but nothing that I’m aware of that will put them out for any period of time.”