Rohan Smith confirms Leeds Rhinos player will miss full season

Leeds Rhinos are a week away from kicking off the upcoming 2023 Super League campaign but they’ve received a major injury blow prior that Warrington Wolves matchup.

Rohan Smith’s men are set to travel to the Halliwell Jones to take on Daryl Powell’s side, with the Wire having recruited heavily prior to 2023.

Smith utilised the pre-season to test the depth of his squad with a key focus on youth, however one young star is set to miss the entire season the Leeds boss has revealed.

Asked about his experiment using youth and why Max Simpson hadn’t been seen much, Smith told Serious About Rugby League.

“Max had a knee operation the other day, he will be out for the season. He had a training injury which is really unfortunate.

“Max had done a tremendous job through the pre-season on the back of ankle surgery last year, he’d made great progress.

“We’re all really gutted for Max but he’ll be back.”

Missing Simpson for the full season will be a massive blow for Smith’s team, especially given his propensity to rely on youth.

It’s also a huge blow for the young Simpson who at just 18-years-old would have seen the real prospect of gametime this season, in particular given Rhinos other injury concerns at centre with Nene Macdonald and Harry Newman not having played in pre-season on account of injury.

Simpson made four appearances in Super League last season during his maiden campaign and was a player that clearly had the trust of Smith, but also had the admiration of fans which makes this news even more devasting for him.

Furthermore with Liam Sutcliffe departing the club in the winter and the news yesterday that Levi Edwards was set to join Championship side, York Knights, there would have been a major case for Simpson to become a huge cog in Rhinos’ campaign.

Rhinos will instead likely rely on a versatile and interchangeable backline with Ash Handley, David Fusitu’a, Derrell Olpherts and Luis Roberts looking like the contingent that could play in that centre position or the wing.