Fresh blow for Leeds Rhinos as Liam Sutcliffe ruled out for rest of season

Sutcliffe has played 13 times in 2021, featuring at stand-off, scrum-half, full-back and centre.

He has been battling a knee injury throughout the campaign and was substituted at half-time of last week’s defeat by Castleford Tigers.

Also set to miss the rest of the season are Mikolaj Oledzki - who has undergone surgery on a foot injury - and fellow forward Alex Mellor (knee).

Full-back Jack Walker has not played in 2021 because of a foot injury which he suffered in February, 2020 and reoccurred in pre-season.

“Since March we have been looking after Liam,” Rhinos coach Richard Agar revealed.

“He has not been able to train every day and we’ve been trying to get him in a physical state so he can play on a weekend.

“I think he has played exceptionally well, given what we’ve known behind the scenes and changes of position.

“Whether he has played full-back, stand-off, centre, left-side or right-side, he has been a real shining light for us.

“But he has succumbed to his knee injury.

“He has subsequently seen a surgeon [on Wednesday] and unfortunately he will need microfracture surgery, which is a four-six month recovery period.

“We are looking to try and get that done early next week, hopefully Wednesday.”

Agar added: “He will be back in contention for the start of next season, but it is a blow because I think he has been great for us this year.”

Agar said the injury is due to “wear and tear”.

He said: “He’s had it for a while now, but it really flared up at the start of this season.”

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