A total of eight Super League clubs were in pre-season action over the weekend as they prepare for the start of the new campaign.
Leeds Rhinos and St Helens racked up the biggest scorelines of the weekend as they took on Bradford Bulls and Castleford Tigers respectively. Brad Arthur’s Rhinos marked Cameron Smith’s testimonial with a 46-16 win over Bradford at Headingley, while the Saints celebrated Matty Lees’ stint at the club by beating the Tigers 40-10.
Huddersfield Giants beat a young Hull FC side to prevent Brad Fash from getting the win in his testimonial contest. The scoreline at Brantingham Park was 28-16 to the West Yorkshire outfit.
And, on the other side of East Yorkshire, Wakefield Trinity made short work of champions Hull KR at Craven Park. Again, KR named a young side, but Wakefield had more than enough to seal a 34-6 win.
There was enough for most head coaches to like over the weekend, but it has to be said that the weekend didn’t pass without its injury issues.
In fact, a chunk of the clubs in action lost players through injury and while most are only minor, some players look set for lay-offs. Here’s a look at the Super League injuries we know off from the weekend’s pre-season action.
Super League injury round up
We’ll start with what looks to be the most serious issue of the weekend as Max Simpson looks set for another lengthy lay-off. The youngster has already had more than his fair share of setbacks in his career and back in August, he returned from a three year stint on the sidelines.
Unfortunately, he could now be looking at another 12 months in the treatment room after suffering what looks to be an ACL injury. The 21-year-old just hasn’t been able to catch a break in the professional game and everyone at Leeds will be hoping that injury isn’t quite as bad as first feared.
Leeds picked up three more issues on Saturday against the Bulls, with James McDonnell suffering a syndesmosis injury, Chris Hankinson breaking his nose and Ash Handley struggling with a groin problem.
Timeframes on all three of those injuries will be confirmed in due course. Bradford were without a number of players on the day with Andy Ackers, Ryan Sutton and Zac Fulton not involved at Headingley. Ackers missed out due to a back spasm.
Castleford confirmed issues with Zac Cini, Semi Valemei and Cain Robb in the build up to Saturday’s trip to Merseyside and they picked up another issue in the outside backs as Louis Senior left the field early on.
Matty Laidlaw was knocked out in the early stages of Sunday’s clash between Hull FC and Huddersfield Giants and subsequently failed a HIA. Youngster Joe Ward had to be helped down the tunnel with a knee injury, too.
Lewis Jagger (elbow) and Kieran Rush (calf), were the minor issues Huddersfield picked up in that game, while Wakefield saw Caius Faatili suffer a hip issue.
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