Leeds Rhinos: Why injured Richie Myler feels lucky to be sidelined for ‘only 10 weeks’

The England international is facing an extended spell on the sidelines after tearing his abductor muscle in the opening minutes of the club’s first game of the season against Warrington Wolves. The severity of the injury has now been confirmed but Agar conceded it could have been much bleaker for the 31-year-old.

“He’s had it repaired and had the surgery on Monday,” said the Rhinos coach. “The initial estimates are around 10 weeks which could have been worse.

“The specialist looked at it and said that, with just the way he landed, he could have done damage to his ACL. So, he actually feels - looking at the incident - he’s been quite lucky to escape further damage.”

It means Jack Walker, who suffered a number of costly errors in last week’s loss against Wigan Warriors, is likely to have a run in the No 1 role as he looks to put two years of his own injury torment behind him. Rhinos are still without Tonga winger David Fusitu’a and England Knights centre Harry Newman while Papua New Guinea captain Rhyse Martin remains in Australia on compassionate grounds following the death of his father.

Ex-St Helens back-row James Bentley is also suspended so Leeds have selection issues for tomorrow’s game against Catalans Dragons but Agar is not unduly worried.

“At the moment, Jack [Walker] is in there,” he said.

“And he knows he needs to improve on last week’s performance.

“And some of our injuries - there’s some suspensions in there - are short term.

“The picture will change pretty quickly for us in the next week or two with regards to numbers.”

Agar added: “Obviously, Rhyse Martin will be on his way back this weekend.

“Fusitua was just a bit early and not quite ready for Thursday and Newman is just a week away.

“We wanted a bit more training for him. He’s had [his hamstring] scanned again. It’s fully healed and repaired.

“We just wanted to get some more miles in his legs.”

Leeds do have hooker Brad Dwyer back from a one-game ban while Martin could return at Wakefield Trinity next Thursday.

Agar said: “He should have plenty of time to prepare for that game. He’s due back this weekend.

“We’ll see how he pulls up. He’s been training while he’s been away.

“He’s had a lot going on, he’s had a lot of travel and there’s an emotional impact on him.

“But we’ll wait until he gets back before making a decision.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a selection headache as our two back-rowers have played extremely well this week. That will be a lovely position to be in.”