Coronavirus break has made St Helens more dangerous warns Leeds Rhinos boss

The home fixture was originally scheduled for March 20, four days after Betfred Super League was suspended because of coronavirus.

Saints were then on the back of a heavy defeat at Castleford Tigers and had lost half of their opening six fixtures, but returned from the layoff with a bang last Sunday when they hammered Catalans Dragons 34-6.

Agar was “impressed” with that performance and believes it was an indication Saints have put their early-season wobbles behind them.

“We were due to play Saints after they played Castleford [in March] and - understandably I reckon, at that time they were maybe not firing on all cylinders,” Agar said.

“They had a massive season last year, a lot of Great Britain tourists and a World Club Challenge game which was a massive game for them.

“They had a couple of injuries at the time and we were traveling all right.

“We were thinking it wasn’t a bad time to get them, but we watched them last weekend and we were thinking ‘these boys don’t look too bad’.

“The speed with which they played the game looked like - amazingly after the break - them getting back to their best.

“They had [Mark] Percival back and the way they carry the ball out of backfield and the big fellas crash through you, we were really impressed by what they delivered.

“We can see the mitigating factors in a couple of performances pre-Covid and unfortunately for us, we are probably catching them at the wrong time now.”

Rhinos were the ‘away’ team last week against Huddersfield Giants, but will be back in their usual changing rooms - and home kit - on Sunday.

Agar feels they will be better with a game under their belts and the experience of having played behind closed doors, under new guidelines governing entry into the stadium, temperature checks and other health and safety precautions.

He admitted: “It is very, very different for the boys, I think they missed the energy and atmosphere crowds in England and in our sport bring to games, but we managed it okay.

“It is what it is, we have sort of got used to it a bit because we have to train around it too.

“If it is the new normal way of working for the time being, we just have to get used to it.”

Agar will name his initial 21-man squad today, but confirmed Rhinos will be without forward James Donaldson who suffered a fracture to his back last week.

The coach said the injury “sounds worse than it is” and Donaldson is likely to be out of action for five or six weeks.

Stevie Ward is still suffering the effects of a head injury he suffered more than six months ago and remains on the casualty list.

“There’s a fair amount of concern,” Agar said.

“Until the symptoms disappear we are not going to get him back.”

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