After naming his squad for Boxing Day, Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur has shed more insight onto the minutes certain players will play, whilst also tipping one young star for a prominent role.
George Brown will start in the halves alongside Chris Hankinson on Boxing Day when Leeds take on Wakefield in their traditional clash and Rhinos’ fans may well have high hopes after hearing what head coach Brad Arthur has had to say about the youngster.
Leeds have been out in Tenerife on a warm weather training camp and as part of that, the Rhinos ran an opposed session with Huddersfield Giants. Speaking whilst in Tenerife and reflecting on their training camp, Brad Arthur told the Leeds Rhinos’ YouTube channel how players fared, with particular praise coming for Brown.
“It was good. Everyone got a bit restless by the end of it but it’s competitive, isn’t it,” Arthur explained, before going on to single out the academy star for praise.
“The young guys did well and in particular (George Brown). I know that we’re going to get Browny to run the team around on Boxing Day and it’s a really big occasion and a big honour for him and he’s done a really good job today.
“He stood up, he was under a fair bit of pressure, had to really drive our mentality and he kicked well into the corners and done all the basics well but he wasn’t afraid to play a little bit of footy. He took the line on and got himself a nice little try under the posts for a show and go.
“He’s done a good job and it was good to see a lot of the kids testing themselves and carrying the ball strong, working on their defensive systems. It was a lot of mentality training.”
Brad Arthur explains Leeds Rhinos’ Boxing Day team selection
Brown is one of several youngsters who will play on Boxing Day with many of them being backs as a more experienced forward pack was named, but Arthur has explained the reasons behind that.
He said: “Our forwards that we’re putting out, there’s still going to be a strong forward pack and blokes like Keenan (Palasia) just need to get 20, 25 minutes into his legs, a bit of a run. That’s what helps him be better for the next game and get himself ready for Round One.
“Some of the other middles will get a bit more game time but it’s different for them than it is for the backs and in particular the spine members. They don’t probably need as much through their friendly games.”
Some of the experienced forwards named to the team include the aforementioned Keenan Palasia, Tom Holroyd, Jarrod O’Connor, and Cooper Jenkins as well as new signings Ethan O’Neill and Jeremiah Mata’utia.
Meanwhile, the backs have far less experience with Max Simpson among the most senior in age even if his game time has been limited through injuries.
On the backs, Arthur said: “With our outside backs, they’ll just need to get some running and some speed into them but we’re looking forward to that opportunity those guys are going to get, especially those young guys.”
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