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Jason King: Manly Sea Eagles ready for Leeds Rhinos challenge
Leeds Rhinos captain Kevin Sinfield and Manly co-captain Jamie Lyon.
Playing a world title showdown on opposition turf doesn’t bother Australian champions Manly Sea Eagles.
The 2011 NRL Grand Final winners will face Super League kings Leeds Rhinos at Headingley in two days’ time.
And Manly are looking to double up after beating Rhinos 28-20 in the World Club Challenge three years ago, at Elland Road.
Prop Jason King is expecting another close result this week, but having won in Leeds once already, he’s not concerned at the prospect of taking on Rhinos in front of the famous South Stand – or in alien conditions.
“I was here in 2009 when we played Leeds in the World Club Challenge,” recalled King, who is Manly’s co-captain alongside ex-St Helens star Jamie Lyon.
“That was a good game. Leeds came back at us pretty hard towards the back end of the game and we were lucky to hang on.
“They gave us a pretty tough game and we expect the same thing on Friday. That time you could class it as playing at their home ground as well.
“We have come all the way from Australia, so it doesn’t matter where we play. Playing at Leeds’ ground is the same as playing anywhere else.
“Obviously it’s not a neutral venue. We are aware it’s the home crowd and so forth for Leeds, but that’s part of the challenge for us coming over to England and playing a Super League team.
“It is a bit chilly for us, coming from an Australian summer, but we can cope with that – once we get warmed up that won’t be on our mind.”
Manly have only played one practice game this year – a defeat to Cronulla in Australia – and did not arrive in England until last weekend.
But King, who missed last year’s NRL Grand Final win over Auckland Warriors due to a pectoral injury, insisted they aren’t taking Friday’s clash lightly.
He stressed: “Everybody’s looking forward to it and we’ve been preparing for a while for the game.
“We are coming off the back of three or four months of pre-season training.
“Playing against Leeds in England is a big challenge and there’s plenty of prestige about the game.
“Obviously we would love to win it.”
Rhinos are two rounds into Stobart Super League with tough games against Hull KR and Wigan under their belt.
Asked if that will give Leeds an advantage, King admitted: “I would say so.
“They have played a few competition games, whereas we’ve only played a trial against Cronulla and we had a squad of 40 players rotating through.
“That’s the circumstances surrounding the game and it’s something we’ve got to respond to. We are going to turn up and play and do the little things right, the things that we’ve trained for. It will just come down to our execution.”
Twelve of Rhinos’ first-team squad played in the 2009 clash with Manly, so King knows what to expect.
He said: “Leeds are very impressive. They have won the competition a few times and they came from fifth last year. We have got a lot of respect for them. They continue to be a successful team and they will be a big challenge.”
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
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here we go again
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 08:26 AMI am taking Friday night off work to go to this one. Hope it isn't wasted! Be ready Leeds.
horseoutside
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 04:10 PMIf any Rhinos players want to play for LUFC you are welcome
greenvigo
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 01:42 PM"Undercooked" or not, Manly will present a formidable challenge for the Rhinos as they have world-class stars in all positions. I am particularly looking forward to how Hardaker & Watkins (if fit) perform against 2 classy & battle hardened centres in Matai & Lyon. The Manly back row of Stewart, Williams & Watmough is also top drawer & our defence will have to step up from last week at Wigan. Don't think it will happen, but I would like to see McShane playing as a specialist hooker with Burrow & McGuire at half back & Sinfield in his best position at 13. The Rhinos have the knack of raising their game on the big stage & with a 20000+ crowd should be a cracker.
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