Boost for Leeds Rhinos as key men cleared for Challenge Cup clash v St Helens

It was feared second-rower James Bentley might miss the sixth round tie at AMT Headingley after he left the field for a head injury assessment (hia) late in last Friday’s Super League defeat by Saints. A failed test would have automatically ruled him out of the rematch with his former club, but coach Rohan Smith today confirmed Bantley has been given the all-clear and both centre Paul Momirovski and prop Sam Lisone are expected to return to Rhinos’ initial squad.

Smith will name 21 players for the match at noon tomorrow (Wednesday) and speaking at his weekly preview press conference this afternoon, he confirmed: “James passed his hia straight after the game with no issues. It was more the whiplash action of the contact and everyone else got through the game pretty well to be in the 21.”

Momirovski was ruled out of last week’s Super League encounter with a shoulder injury. Smith confirmed: “He is likely to be in the 21. He has done a bit today and made good signs of progression. We will see how he is on Thursday before making the final call.”

Smith revealed the Australian picked up the injury in Leeds’ win against Catalans Dragons three weeks ago, which was his third appearance for Rhinos following an off-season move from Sydney Roosters. He reported: “He played at Leigh with that niggle and it just loitered. We decided to give it some healing time last week and it has responded, but whether it has responded well enough, we will double check.”

Lisone is available after completing a three-match ban imposed following his sin-binning in the Super League round two defeat at Hull KR last month and Smith sees his return as a bonus. “Sam is a big part of what we are doing,” he said of the winning try scorer in Rhinos’ round one clash with Salford Red Devils.

“He is a key part of our group on and off the field. He is a great character and a good physical specimen who can bring some skill and some footwork and real collison to our game. We will welcome him back.”

Lisone was shown a yellow card for a high tackle against Hull KR and received a three-game penalty notice after the RFL’s match review panel charged him with grade D head contact. Rhinos felt that was unduly harsh, but Smith stressed the front-rower - who was hampered by a broken thumb in pre-season - has put his unwanted time off to good use.

“He had a few little bits and pieces in pre-season that limited his ability to be in full-training,” the coach added. “He has had a couple of weeks to do some good, hard work. He is all good and raring to go.”

Injuries and suspensions left Rhinos low on front-rowers earlier in the campaign, but all their experienced ‘middles’ are now fit and available. The coach added: “We believe in the guys we’ve got and we are looking forward to having Sam back in the mix.

“It is middle-unit by committee, not everyone’s going to play every week, but that’s what you need over the course of the season - you need six, eight, 10 front-rowers sometimes to get the job done. We will welcome Sam back and there’s competition for places and for minutes.”

If Momirovski is given the all-clear, that will leave winger David Fusitu’a (knee) and second-row Morgan Gannon (concussion) as the only senior players on Rhinos’ casualty list.

Prop James Donaldson was 18th man last week after completing a two-match ban and forward Leon Ruan did not feature in the gameday side, following three successive appearances. Smith is facing a welcome selection headache, but insisted he isn’t planning major changes as Leeds prepare to face the same opposition for the second time in eight days.

“We are looking to build cohesion and have who we think is our best 17 for the week,” Smith said. “That’s the team we will go with. We will check one or two guys; it was a good, hard game last weekend and there’s a few with bumps and bruises, but we’ve come through pretty well. We won’t be making changes for the sake of it.”