Rugby League News: Leeds Rhinos Suffer Injury Blow in Defeat to St Helens
The Leeds Rhinos’ hopes of a strong performance against St Helens on Friday night were dealt a significant blow when new signing Matty Russell suffered an injury during the 40-10 defeat. Rhinos coach Rohan Smith has confirmed that the Scotland international, who recently joined the club on a two-month loan from Warrington Wolves, was forced off the field in the first half after a tackle from Saints centre Mark Percival.
Russell, who was making his debut for the Rhinos, left the pitch for a head injury assessment, which he failed. However, the 30-year-old also sustained a knock to his knee in the same challenge. Concussion protocols have ruled Russell out of next Saturday’s West Yorkshire derby with Castleford Tigers, and his knee injury will be further assessed in the coming days.
“He seems okay now but it’s another outside-back that we’ve lost in the first half of a game,” Smith said after the match. “It’s been a conveyer belt there.”
Despite the Rhinos being only 12-6 down at half-time, St Helens produced a clinical display in the second half, scoring 28 points to reclaim top spot in the Super League table. Rhinos coach Smith was disappointed with his team’s performance, particularly in the second half.
“Overall it wasn’t the standard,” Smith said. “We attacked the game to start with and we were in some control in a hard fought first 20 or 30 minutes. In the first half our application and effort was good, our execution was a bit off, and in the second half we just got off to a really bad start with some errors and they put on some good plays back-to-back which made the scoreboard out of our favour.”
Despite the defeat, Smith remains confident that he can turn the Rhinos’ fortunes around, stating that the team is still new and has a lot of potential.
“We’ve got a group that is still new, we’re miles off playing to the ability that we think we’re capable of, but that’s a guess, because there’s a bunch of new players to the club this year and almost everyone in the club is in their first or second year of having a significant role in the team,” Smith said.
The Rhinos will look to bounce back next Saturday when they host Castleford Tigers at Headingley.
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