Rohan Smith says three stars will play next week but one man is still not ready as he provides injury update

After defeat against Leigh Leopards, Leeds Rhinos have another friendly to look forward to against the Bradford Bulls on Sunday and the Rhinos will welcome back a few big players as Rohan Smith confirmed in his press conference yesterday.

“There will be plenty of first team players next week,” Smith said, “Cam Smith will be playing, David Fusitu’a, Rhyse Martin, but James Bentley won’t be ready.

“Most of the guys who played today will play again next week.”

There has been a lot of talk about the absence of Mikolaj Oledzki and Luke Hooley after surgery and Smith confirmed that young Corey Johnson has nearly recovered from his 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.”

In terms of injuries yesterday, there was nothing serious:

“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.”

Liam Tindall did go off, but Smith revealed that everything was fine:

“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.”