Leeds Rhinos Netball to belatedly get their Superleague season up and running

Rhinos were due to begin their second season among the elite against Loughborough Lightning on Sunday as part of the bumper opening weekend of fixtures in Birmingham.

But the team suffered a number of positive Covid cases late last week which forced the postponement of the game.

However, those players have now returned and Rhinos will belatedly begin their season with a trip to Emirates Arena in Glasgow to face Strathclyde Sirens (Friday 7.30pm).

For Rhinos player Tuaine Keenen, 29, the fixture cannot come soon enough. “We’ve got all our players back and we’re getting excited now,” said the New Zealand-born goal keeper.

“We kind of knew at the start of the week that we’d be playing.

“We got our players back, and the plan was always just train as if we assume we’re playing.”

The Covid-enforced cancellation, while a concern for players’ health and the disappointment of missing out on a marquee fixture, did not disrupt their preparation time too greatly.

“It wasn’t a major disruption, we were still able to train, but not having the match to focus on was a frustration and a disappointment,” said Keenan, whose Rhinos team play their first home game at EIS Sheffield on Monday. “But we’ve got two games coming up so the focus is on that.”