Leeds Rhinos boss says Harry Newman 'has to wait' as Jack Bird gets nod for Bradford Bulls derby
Boss Brad Arthur has backed England star Harry Newman to “do the right thing” as he battles to get back in Leeds Rhinos’ matchday side.
Recent signing Jack Bird made his first start for Leeds in last Sunday’s 26-22 home win against Warrington Wolves when he replaced Newman in the right-centre. Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Wednesday) Arthur confirmed Bird will keep his place for Friday’s derby at Bradford Bulls and revealed Newman’s next steps.
Newman was ever-present last season and played in all Leeds’ games this year before Bird’s call up three days ago. “He has got a couple of niggles he is getting on top of now,” Arthur said.
“He will train today and he has just got to wait now until an opportunity comes - make sure he has got a good attitude. It is a tough position for him that he probably hasn’t been in before. That’s unfortunate, no one’s happy about it, it is just the way it is. He will do the right thing and will work hard to get himself in the team.”
Bird joined Rhinos from Wests Tigers in February and had to watch four games from the sidelines before being called on to the bench for the defeat at Hull FC two weeks ago. Arthur reckons it was worth the wait and predicted the 31-year-old former State of Origin player will only get better after his strong performance against Wolves.
“Jack did a lot of work off the ball and a lot of effort areas,” Arthur said of his first start. “When we were in the grind of the set-for-set footy and the transitions he had a lot of urgency to get back behind the ball, get back in position and come and have some strong carries when we needed them.
“He knows his way around the field and what’s needed and when it’s needed. He hasn’t played a full 80 minutes for six or seven months, that’s why we were taking it a bit slow for him to earn his way into the team. I feel like he is only going to get better and better.
“Once he has full knowledge of our systems and combinations I think his game will grow for us. But he scored a nice try as well - he still had a fair bit of work to do; his ball-carrying arm hit the ground and he didn’t lose it. It was a big moment for us in the context of the game.”
Arthur has named an unchanged 21 for Friday, but with Rhinos on a five-day turnaround, he said: “There will be a couple of minor adjustments, just to share the workload a little bit. The beauty of it for me and us as a club is it doesn’t matter what starting lineup I put out there at the moment, it is very strong. We are not having a resting or rotating policy, it’s not that at all - it’s just what we think is going to be best for this week.”