Rohan Smith has his say on short turnarounds on the horizon as Leeds Rhinos prepare for two games against the top four

Rohan Smith is about to endure a new experience as a coach as his Leeds team prepare for two games in a week for the first time under their new boss as Super League clubs prepare for what is essentially another Easter weekend at the end of the season.

After picking up a fifth consecutive win at the expense of Warrington on Friday, Smith didn’t have long to reflect on their win with third place Huddersfield just five days away in a game that Leeds need to win to remain in pole position in the play-off race.

On this Smith said: “It’s matter of getting started again this week, another short turnaround we’ll be saying that a few times in the next few weeks against an extremely hard team to beat.”

He then noted that Leeds wouldn’t have much a chance of building combinations as Leeds have to deal with a number of short turnarounds as the season draws to a close: “We’ll build some combinations as we go but for the next few weeks it’ll be who’s fittest, who’s ready to go on the short turn around and then the shorter turn around and then the slightly longer short turn around.”

Smith also noted how the experience will be new to him and that he’ll have to lean on people who have experienced it already: “It’s a little new to me so I need to lean on people who have been and done it before previously. The priority will be recovery. We also have a bunch of players who haven’t played lots so making sure they get what they need in order to be as ready as they can be.”