Kruise Leeming steps up training for Leeds Rhinos return

Leeds Rhinos casualty Kruise Leeming is approaching a crucial period in his recovery from a long-term knee injury.
Kruise Leeming. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.Kruise Leeming. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.
Kruise Leeming. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.

Leeming, who joined Rhinos from Huddersfield Giants last November, is due to start running within the next two weeks.

If there is no adverse reaction he could be set to make his Rhinos debut when Betfred Super League eventually resumes after the Covid-19 shutdown.

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The 24-year-old hooker was hurt in the squad’s final training session before Christmas and has yet to play for the club.

Kruisae Leeming in action for Huddersfield Giants at Wakefield Trinity last season. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.Kruisae Leeming in action for Huddersfield Giants at Wakefield Trinity last season. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.
Kruisae Leeming in action for Huddersfield Giants at Wakefield Trinity last season. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.

He was initially expected to be sidelined for weeks rather than months, but the injury failed to clear-up and he underwent surgery in February.

The surgeon discovered the damage was worse than previously thought and, though the operation went well, Leeming was told to prepare for a 12-16-week layoff.

He is around half-way through that and is now ready to step-up his re-hab’.

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“I am good, I am due to run in a couple of weeks so hopefully when that happens I will get to see more of how it feels,” the England Knights man revealed.

“It feels good walking around, getting up steps and things like that and I am doing a load of re-hab’ at home.

“That feels good, but until I go back to running it is hard to gauge how far off I am.”

The three- to fourth-month timescale would have meant Leeming missing around half the Betfred Super League campaign, but - with the sport now suspended because of coronavirus - he could be available for Rhinos’ sixth competitive game of the season.

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Leeming admitted: “Being really selfish, it [the shutdown] has come at a good time for me.

“Obviously the team were going really well and hopefully it hasn’t halted the momentum we had and we can pick up straight away from where we left off.

“If I had been up and running for two weeks now I’d know a bit more.

“I could either say I am still getting a lot of pain from it, or I have come back from every session and had no problems and feel really good.

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“The last block of my re-hab’ is running and hopefully if all that goes really well I should be back for the first game, but if it doesn’t, you get minor setbacks.

“I have been really lucky, I haven’t had many setbacks, the inflamation on my knee is really good, it’s looking really dry - there’s no fluid in there so it’s all pretty positive at the minute, but it is hard for me to tell.”

All Rhinos’ players and most staff have been placed on furlough and with the club’s Kirkstall training base out of bounds, Leeming isn’t getting the day-to-day care he normally would from Leeds’ medical personnel.

But he stressed: “It’s fine, I am getting used to this situation we are in at the minute.

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“It’s just your routine that changes, I have started getting up a bit later than I normally would, doing my re-hab’, getting a bit of breakfast and then getting out on a bike ride.

“I have got some weights at home - obviously it’s nowhere near as good as the gym at Leeds and I am missing it, but I am getting some bits and bats done.”

He added: “It is very strange times, but I have started biking, which is something I have never done before.

“I have got myself a road bike, which I probably never would have done if this hadn’t happened.

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“I have started a new hobby and I am learning and enjoying that and I am trying to take the positives out of what we’ve got and spend time with my family.

“By the time this ends we’ll all be moaning about something else and saying ‘I wish I was at home’, so you can’t win - you just have to take it how it is.”

*Peter Smith and Richard Byram discuss Super League’s next move - and Kallum Watkins’ return to the competition - in the latest edition of the YEP’s Inside Rugby League podcast. Log on to www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport to listen in.

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