Leeds Rhinos won’t be taking up an option to retain a member of their top-20 squad, boss Brad Arthur has revealed.
Australian prop Jeremiah Mata’utia is set to leave Leeds Rhinos at the end of this year after just one season with the club.
The 21-year-old – who this week returned from a nine-game loan spell at Hull FC – joined Rhinos in pre-season from North Queensland Cowboys, but has made only two appearances so far, both off the bench.
Mata’utia is on a one-year contract with an option for 2027 and asked if he will be a Rhinos player next year, Arthur stated: “I don’t think so, no.”
Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Wednesday) ahead of Saturday’s game at Catalans Dragons, the coach said: “Bleasey [sporting director Ian Blease] has had a conversation with his manager. At this stage Jerry is aware we won’t be taking that option up.”
Mata’utia could still have a part to play for Rhinos this year, though Arthur hasn’t totally ruled out a return to Hull.
“It is week to week,” he said. “He has got to work hard and fight hard.
“We are healthy, especially in the forwards and he joins the list of quite a few guys who are sitting at the moment waiting.
“Their job at the moment is to train well to make sure they are ready if an opportunity comes along, but also to prepare the Super League team on a weekly basis.
“It’s not just the 17 guys who go out there that contribute to the performance, it’s also what we do during the week at training and the level of intensity our reserve team train at and what they throw at us to get us ready for a game.
“That’s his responsibility and if he gets an opportunity he has to be ready.”
Of the possibility of another loan move, he added: “At this stage I think he will probably just be with us; we don’t want to be loaning guys out any more moving forward, but Jerry’s situation is a touch different because he has been loaned previously.”
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Leeds Rhinos boss confirms Ryan Hall replacement
Arthur also revealed Riley Lumb will come into the side against Catalans in place of Ryan Hall, who could be sidelined for between one and four weeks after suffering a foot injury against Bradford Bulls last Sunday.
Lumb 21, played in Rhinos’ first two competitive games this year, but has been out of the side since February.
“Riley will get his opportunity,” Arthur said. “Like a lot of our young guys, he has been waiting his time, training well and doing his job in reserves when he has played.
“It’s a good chance for him coming into a team that has got strong belief.
“He is coming in at a good time, now it’s totally on him. He knows what’s required and what’s expected of him and he gets the chance to push for that spot and also into the future, showing us he is worthy of being in the 17.”
Hall has had a scan on the damage suffered against Bulls, but is facing an uncertain layoff. Arthur said: “His plantar fascia is 80 per cent torn through. It didn’t completely rupture, but it is wait and see now.
“It could be a week, could be two, could be four, we don’t know. It is worse being a partial tear because they hang on and hang on forever.
“He definitely won’t play this week, but at the moment it is going to be a week to week proposition.
“It is hard, but Hally has got enough experience – he knows what he is doing and will know when he’s right to play.”
