Hopes rise for rested Leeds Rhino Burrow

With Danny McGuire ruled out for six weeks with a knee problem and fellow England international Rob Burrow having missed the last two games due to a calf strain, they face being without two of their most dynamic players for the biggest game of the year so far.

At Wembley on Saturday, inexperienced teenager Stevie Ward is set to be handed the crucial scrum-half role vacated by McGuire – a traditional match-winner for Leeds in so many big games – in what will be a real test of the gifted player’s mettle.

But McDermott expects Burrow to pull through and bring his pace, evasive running and experience to the side as the West Yorkshire club seek to avoid the ignominy of becoming the first to lose three successive finals.

Their task is far from easy given the strength of a clinical Warrington team who have won two of the last three Wembley affairs and are so well drilled by former Rhinos coach Tony Smith.

On Burrow’s fitness, McDermott told the Yorkshire Post: “He’s got a chance and is looking okay for now.

“I’m scared to death of guaranteeing he’s going to play but I expect him to start.

“We wisely rested him against Catalan on Saturday and that was the right thing to do.

“There is lengthy odds he could have got through it okay but given what was at stake this week it wasn’t worth it.

“He’s still got another couple of boxes to tick before we’re absolutely sure but it’s okay for now.

“We’ll try and get past missing Maggsy (McGuire). He’s been outstanding for us this year, and there’s no doubt we will.

“We’ll find a way of being a threat with the ball without him but it will be difficult.

“I think it would have been a bit too hard had we missed Rob too – both our dynamos – but that shouldn’t be the case.”

It remains to be seen whether Burrow, 29, will continue in the hooker role he has mastered over the last 18 months or return to the scrum-half berth from which he made his name as one of Super League’s genuine stars.

At hooker, he had a significant impact off the bench in last year’s 28-18 final defeat against Wigan, causing all sorts of problems for their opponents while his stunning individual try was a highlight as he won man of the match in the Grand Final success over St Helens.

He has started more regularly at nine this term following Danny Buderus’s return to Australia but could be restored to his traditional half-back role to assuage McGuire’s absence.

However, McDermott is likely to show further faith in Ward who played there in France last weekend and rejected the chance to go on England Academy’s tour of Australia to cement his place in Leeds’s Wembley line-up.

That decision is now fully justified given the coach confirmed last night the exciting local talent will definitely be in the matchday squad.

Ward has played 13 games since his debut at St Helens in March – starting in 10 – operating largely at back-row and half but also, briefly, in the centres.

McDermott concedes he does not yet know where the 18 year-old’s long-term position will be but is adamant the skilled youngster has both the temperament and ability to handle the pressure of playing in front of almost 80,000 fans.

“Stevie’s one of those players who if you were to say in five years time he’d be playing 13 then I’d agree,” he explained.

“If you told me he’d be playing six I’d agree too.

“But if you said he was playing back-row I could see that as well, as a Steve Menzies type – somebody with a hell of a lot of strike from who a lot comes off.

“The interesting thing is I don’t think he’d change his game whether he was playing at six, 13 or as an attacking second-row.

“He’s that type of player – he doesn’t need any invite to attack the line which is uncommon in the current world of over-coaching.

“Young fellas come through the ranks and they’ve got everything right – they pass, they catch, they grip and then some of them just forget to attack the opposition line but Steve is the opposite.

“He’s got a very strong running game, is a strong defender and he deserves his place in that 17.

“He’ll play. We’re not sure where just yet as we’ve got another couple of days’ preparation but I’m sure he will enjoy himself.

“He’s not the finished article and he’s not quite ready for a regular start and being someone we rely on week-in, week-out, but he’s a talent.”

McDermott will note, too, that so often such young talent thrives on the grandeur of the Wembley stage.

From Huddersfield’s two-try stand-off Peter Ramsden, who won the Lance Todd Trophy on his 19th birthday in the 1953 final, right through to Robbie Paul who did likewise with his brilliant hat-trick display for Bradford Bulls in 1996 when barely 20, there are examples of youth shining.

Meanwhile, Warrington coach Tony Smith has no such concerns, given young scrum-half Gareth O’Brien (shoulder) is his only absentee.