Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur has explained the decision to take off centre Ash Handley early on in the victory over Castleford Tigers, whilst also giving an update on James McDonnell.
Handley started the game but only lasted around half an hour before being replaced by the versatile Chris Hankinson.
The club captain only returned to the side in Las Vegas last week, after missing the opening few rounds with a groin issue.
Arthur confirmed that the move was precaution, given the early stage of the season, but believes that he will be in contention for next week’s clash with Wakefield.
Speaking to the press post-match, the Leeds boss said: “He just had a bit of groin tightness.
“He wanted to stay on and he could have stayed on, but if I leave him there and something happens in the second half… I’ve got to trust the other guys.
“We’ve got Chris Hankinson on the bench for a reason, and he did really well, didn’t he? So it ended up being the right decision.
“It was the right decision for Ash, and he should be right this week, but he wanted to stay there and we made the decision to take him off.”
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McDonnell meanwhile didn’t feature at all, and was a surprise absentee from Leeds’ gameday 17.
The Perth Bears-bound forward was replaced by Ethan O’Neill on the right edge, with the ex-Leigh man returning to the side after missing the Vegas win.
On McDonnell, the boss revealed a late fitness test is what ultimately saw him sidelined, but like Handley, he should be back available for the Challenge Cup tie.
“He did all the training on Friday, but then the last bit when they were doing the extras, he just hit a tackle shield and just jarred his back up a little bit.
“Again, he wanted to play, and did a bit of a fitness test pre-game and declared himself ready to play, but I made the decision.
“We’ve got the other guys there and we got some game time into Jerry [Jeremiah Mata’utia], so that’s a positive for us that we’ve got the strength of the squad and the numbers that we can do that and not put blokes at risk.
