Rohan Smith reveals whether star man could feature against Castleford Tigers

There was a surprise inclusion in the Leeds Rhinos squad named for Thursday’s meeting with Castleford Tigers.

Kruise Leeming was named in the squad after it looked like he had suffered a serious injury against St Helens.

However, the injury isn’t as bad as first feared and now Rohan Smith has given an update on the hooker:

“His foot has settled quite well.

“It is earlier than first thought. It has settled quite well but we thought it wouldn’t be too long.”

When asked if he stood a chance of playing against the Tigers, Smith said:

“We will see how he is after today.”

However, it is not all good injury news.

With Smith revealing that Ash Handley could be out for other a month:

“Ash is a lateral ankle ligament which is not great, but it could be worse. Looking like a four to six week injury.

“He has been playing well and is a real quality leader and someone who points to how we want to play footy.

“He is a key part of our team.”

However, Harry Newman is ready to continue to shine:

“Newman is there and ready to go. He will play a bigger role this week.

“Harry has pulled up fine as he should after 25 minutes. It is just a case of following the principles of progressive overload.

“There is nothing quite the same as game day exertion so building that up, he is a unique character and athlete and building that up is the next little bit.

“He knows how to play. His kick chase and off the ball stuff was probably the highlight. He had a lot of energy and of course he scored one.

“People look for the big plays but it is the effort that we like.”