There has been a lot of discussion about the fitness at Leeds Rhinos with a number of key injury concerns in the pack with conflicting reports about whether players will be ruled out of their opening clash with Salford Red Devils.
Now Rohan Smith has confirmed that three players will definitely be unavailable. These include Max Simpson who a year ago suffered a nasty long term injury and is still recovering.
The others are backrowers James McDonnell and Morgan Gannon as Smith said: “McDonnell and Gannon will be out. Max Simpson still making his way back off that long-term injury. I think that’s it as far as definitely not available.”
Among the wider injury doubts were James Bentley and Tom Holroyd. On them, Smith said: “They’ll both be a chance. Definitely Bentley, he’s a likely prospect. Holroyd’s probably somewhere in between likely and unlikely.”
Leeds Rhinos boss addresses concern about youngster
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com – 26/05/2023 – Rugby League – Betfred Super League Round 13 – Leeds Rhinos v St Helens – Headingley Stadium, Leeds, England – Leeds’s Morgan Gannon lies injured against St Helens.
It is easy to lose track of how many games Morgan Gannon has now missed through concussion. His entire 2023 campaign was marred by concussion after all.
Now Smith has addressed this concern: “I think it’s a real difficult one given that he’s had no symptoms post-game. He’s had no issues. He’s passed the return to play process smoothly. So, you know, with other injuries, you treat them case by case. So, you know, maybe it’s a case of treatment, case by case, like this as well, that he’s had no symptoms. He’s moving through the stage as well. He sees a consultant tomorrow, and that’ll guide us as to what comes next.”
He also revealed that the injuries are frustrating Gannon himself: “Yeah, so certainly it’s not gone to plan. So much of what happens in the sporting career and in life doesn’t always go to plan, it’s what you do about it and it’s the way you navigate through the adversity that really makes the person that we become or the player we become. So he’s a really sensible, intelligent young player with great family support behind him and great support in our club. We’re all in it together and we’ll be guided by the experts as to what comes next. He’s a young man and there’s players that have had issues early in their career and they’ve got past it and never had a problem.”
