St Helens dealt massive blow prior to Leeds Rhinos clash

For the second week in a row St Helens will travel to Headingley to face Leeds Rhinos but this time the Red Vee are without one of their star players.

That man is Lewis Dodd who was exceptional in the win over Leeds a week ago with the playmaker brilliant in both offence and defence.

His try-saving tackle on Harry Newman was arguably one of the turning points in the game but tonight St Helens will be without him which is a major blow.

Paul Wellens has named his side and Moses Mbye is the man to replace Dodd and partner captain Jonny Lomax, whilst there is also a reshuffle across the backline due to injury.

Mark Percival and Tommy Makinson are both absent again and that sees Waqa Blake shift to the wing and Sione Mata’utia and Konrad Hurrell create a formidable duo in the centres.

As for Leeds Rhinos, they’ve also made some major changes in what is quite an unexpected line-up. Their 21-man squad had seen both Sam Lisone and Paul Momirovski return and both men do feature.

Momirovski actually takes his place on the wing with Luis Roberts dropping to the bench, whilst Rhyse Martin moves into the centres instead.

The game be watched live on BBC Sport via the iPlayer or the Red Button with coverage starting from 19:50, the BBC sadly not showcasing what could be an epic clash on their live TV channel.

St Helens 17-Man Squad

JACK WELSBY
JON BENNISON
KONRAD HURRELL
SIONE MATA’UTIA
WAQA BLAKE
JONNY LOMAX
MOSES MBYE
ALEX WALMSLEY
DARYL CLARK
MATTY LEES
MATT WHITLEY
CURTIS SIRONEN
MORGAN KNOWLES
Interchanges
JOE BATCHELOR
JAMES BELL
JAKE WINGFIELD
GEORGE DELANEY

Leeds Rhinos 17-Man Squad

LACHLAN MILLER
PAUL MOMIROVSKI
HARRY NEWMAN
RHYSE MARTIN
ASH HANDLEY
BRODIE CROFT
MATT FRAWLEY
MIKOLAJ OLEDZKI
ANDY ACKERS
JUSTIN SANGARE
JAMES BENTLEY
JAMES MCDONNELL
CAMERON SMITH
Interchanges
JARROD O’CONNOR
SAM LISONE
TOM HOLROYD
LUIS ROBERTS

👇 The sides are in for the clash at Headingley!

📺 Watch live on @BBCSport! pic.twitter.com/bDDhBCfZIw

— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) March 22, 2024