Maturity of players helps cope with strain of hectic schedule

It is the one time of the year (okay, not technically true for Leeds Rhinos this season) when they have to contend with two games in quick succession, often playing Good Friday and Easter Monday.

While playing twice in a short period is a regular occurrence for footballers, who have midweek fixtures throughout their campaign, the strain on their bodies is nowhere near the same that is forced upon those in the 13-man game.

It is, therefore, crucial that rugby league players do everything in their power to recuperate and prepare in between the two holiday contests to minimise the negative impact they may endure.

Jamie Jones-Buchanan, the Leeds and England second-row, keeps it simple when explaining the secret: “Just eat well, sleep well and rest well, making sure you get to bed.

“We’ve got a really smart group of backroom staff here that know what to do and know when to do it.

“And the players are mature and old enough now to know how to look after themselves.”

Leeds, perhaps, have one of the better schedules to contend with as they traditionally take on Bradford Bulls in a televised game on Maundy Thursday night before ‘backing-up’ on Easter Monday.

However, this season, that second match is a trip to Perpignan this evening to face Super League’s new joint-leaders Catalan Dragons which, clearly, has its own logistical problems when it comes to the extra travelling involved.

Ordinarily when the West Yorkshire club play in France they fly out a couple of days earlier to prepare themselves accordingly. It often involves a flight to Barcelona, normally from Manchester, and subsequent three-hour coach trip out of Spain up to their eventual destination in the Pyrenees.

The proximity of that Bulls game though, a bruising affair which finished 18-18, means that is far from ideal. Thankfully for the Leeds players they are at a club that, in this instance, can afford the added expense of chartering their own plane to fly direct into Perpignan this morning from Leeds-Bradford Airport, returning straight after the game.

“It means we can spend the night before in our own beds and we’ll be home that night as well to recuperate as well,” said Jones-Buchanan. “It’s really important for our recovery (after Bradford) and it’s nice to be at home.

“It will be a long day Monday but I think the lads are smart enough just to put aside one day out of their lives, batten everything down and concentrate on getting that job done which we have to do after what happened against Bradford.

“It’s straight from Leeds to Perpignan too. We don’t have to go to Barcelona so it’s not like there’s a lot of travelling to do.

“We’ll be able to get our heads down probably in the middle of the afternoon and then go straight out and play.”

There is an annual debate about whether this traditional glut of fixtures – there is a full Super League programme next Saturday and Sunday too, often the killer for drained bodies – should be disbanded or retained.

But the 31-year-old said: “It’s fairly relative. Every team’s got to play the same sort of period and same sort of volume. When we start getting fatigued I’m sure the other sides are as well. The real downfall during this period is probably the spectacle.

“The quality can probably drop a bit and you can end up with five drives for a settler but that’s nothing to do with the players.

“Looking further ahead we’ve got two more games to catch up on with Widnes called off for the World Club Challenge and Wakefield too because of the weather so we’ll have a couple more periods like that but we’re happy just to crack on.”

Meanwhile, Brad Singleton, the Cumbrian prop, could make only his second Super League appearance for Leeds after coming into the 19-man squad for Kylie Leuluai, who suffered a groin injury against Bradford.

The 20-year-old made his debut against Salford in 2011 but started this season on loan at Wakefield and has recently been playing for Championship club Hunslet Hawks on dual-registration.