Leeds Rhinos wary of Hull KR’s growing threat to Wembley bid

AS they prepare to face each other in the Coral Challenge Cup quarter-finals, Leeds Rhinos coach Richard Agar has praised his Hull KR counterpart Tony Smith for keeping faith with his squad’s “refreshing” new style.
Coach Richard Agar.Coach Richard Agar.
Coach Richard Agar.

The Yorkshire rivals meet tomorrow night at St Helens knowing victory will leave them just 80 minutes away from Wembley.

Rovers remain bottom of Super League so it is no surprise Leeds – who yesterday became the latest club to record a positive Covid test – are favourites.

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However, in the last fortnight, Smith’s side produced one of the performances of the season to defeat then leaders Wigan Warriors before champions St Helens needed Golden Point extra-time to see them off on Friday.

With a relatively lightweight pack, the Robins have adopted the approach of using plenty of ball movement to try and outwit opponents while their willingness to defend is second to none. It has taken some time to get the right balance – the East Yorkshire club lost seven successive games before that Wigan win, including a 52-10 loss against Leeds in February – but Agar acknowledges how dangerous they now are.

Even with regards that last meeting, he said: “I remember at half-time our boys were goosed; we felt they asked a lot of questions and gave us a real run-around. They are very hard to defend against, even though the scoreboard looked lopsided. It’s a real case of sticking in there, keeping doing what you believe in and eventually they’ve come up with a style that suits their team. I’d pay tribute to Tony for that.

“The fact there’s no relegation takes a bit of pressure off and allows them to stick with trying something different.

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“That’s been really refreshing for the game. It’s causing some teams major problems. The signs have been there but the last two weeks it’s clear they’re becoming more comfortable understanding what works for them; it is a challenging style of attack to defend.”

Meanwhile, as well as that unnamed player, two other Rhinos were also stood down yesterday for track and trace reasons.

A third was added to that list today meaning Leeds are now without four players for the Cup tie due to Covid reasons but it will go ahead as planned.

A second player who was tested on Wednesday after reporting symptoms to the club that morning produced an additional negative retest and is free to return to training immediately.

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Jarrod O’Connor, 19, and Sam Walters, 21, could debut with Matt Prior, Rhyse Martin, Luke Briscoe, Tom Holroyd and Alex Mellor all returning while Hull KR see Robbie Mulhern back and Jamie Ellis replaces the banned Jordan Adbull.

Next Thursday’s Super League meeting between the sides has been brought forward to a 2.45pm kick-off.

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