Rohan Smith sheds light on Kruise Leeming situation demonstrating the character of the Leeds Rhinos skipper

It’s safe to say last night was not the game Leeds would have wanted, but things were always going to be tough without skipper Kruise Leeming.

A former Giants, he was named man of the match in Leeds’ 40-4 win over Warrington last week but was unavailable through illness as the Rhinos travelled to Leeming’s old stomping ground.

His absence was key as Huddersfield dominated the middle controlling the Leeds ruck and limiting the speed at which their forwards were subsequently allowed to make metres off the back of it.

After the game, his coach Rohan Smith shed some more light on the situation as he clearly demonstrated the character of Leeming who still wanted to play: “Kruise has been ill for a few days. He tried to get moving yesterday but he’s actually a bit worse today than yesterday. He wanted to play but we couldn’t allow him to go out there and we ruled him out late this afternoon.

“I hope he wakes up and feels a bit better.”

It’s unclear whether this will impact Leeming’s chances of picking up another England appearance next week against the Combined Nations. Ironically, he played for the Combined Nations against England last year before making his England debut against France at the end of the season.

With the likes of Paul McShane chomping at the bit to wrap up the England number nine shirt, Leeming will want to give himself the best shot at securing the jersey in Shaun Wane’s side.