Leeds Rhinos youngsters ready to pitch in if success brings glut of games

Seeking silverware on both fronts, Leeds Rhinos coach Richard Agar says he would happily “trade-off” a fixture pile-up to play at Wembley.
By Dave Craven
Published 18th Sep 2020, 06:00 BST
Trade-off: Rhinos head coach Richard Agar is happy to utlilise his squad if the team have to play extrra games to secure success. Picture Jonathan Gawthorpe 5th March 2020.Trade-off: Rhinos head coach Richard Agar is happy to utlilise his squad if the team have to play extrra games to secure success. Picture Jonathan Gawthorpe 5th March 2020.
Trade-off: Rhinos head coach Richard Agar is happy to utlilise his squad if the team have to play extrra games to secure success. Picture Jonathan Gawthorpe 5th March 2020.

They face Hull KR in the Coral Challenge Cup quarter-final at St Helens this evening.

If they proceed, Agar knows his side will face midweek Super League games ahead of next month’s semi-finals and final.

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But he said: “If the trade-off for a fixture pile-up is the Challenge Cup final, we’d take it every day.

“We’d 32 players training this week and I’ve said all along we are prepared to find out some nice things this year – that Alex Sutcliffe is good enough to be a first-grader (for example).

“We have some guys waiting in the wings – Tommy Holroyd, Jarrod O’Connor, Sam Walters – and if we have a fixture pile-up and we have to find out about some of those players, we might actually be pleasantly surprised.

“If a fixture pile-up impacts on our league position, so be it – but our first port of call is trying to get this one done (against KR).

“We’ve an exciting challenge and a sizeable one this week.”

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That task has got bigger given Leeds yesterday saw the number of players ruled out due to Covid-related reasons up to four.

But another who had been feeling unwell received a negative result and returned to training.

Youngsters O’Connor and Walters could debut tonight.

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Related topics:Richard AgarLeeds RhinosWembleyHull KRSuper LeagueSt HelensLeeds