Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur hails surprise package as star closes in on Castleford Tigers ace's record
Boss Brad Arthur has praised a Leeds Rhinos surprise package and a teammate who is living up to all his hype.
Forward Cooper Jenkins and winger Maika Sivo both made a huge impact in the 34-6 win at Warrington Wolves which lifted Rhinos two points clear at the top of Betfred Super League. Jenkins produced a storming performance off the substitutes’ bench and Sivo smashed his way over for three tries, taking his tally for the season in all competitions to a remarkable 27 in 15 games.
While Sivo arrived at Leeds with a big reputation from his time at Paramatta Eels in the southern hemisphere NRL, Jenkins was an unknown quantity when he joined Rhinos from Queensland Cup side North Devils ahead of last season. The front-rower has quickly become a mainstay of the team and Arthur enthused: “He has been great.
“I needed to give some time to young Presley [Cassell] last week and Cooper unfortunately was the guy that missed out a bit on game time. He sent me a strong message [against Warrington] didn’t he? He is just a pleasure to have around the group and coach.”
Arthur recalled: “Last year, early in the piece, I put him back to reserve grade for a couple of weeks. He didn’t kick stones when he probably should have been in the team, he was the best at training for that whole week - he was the best trainer by a country mile.
“Then when he got his chance back in the team, I haven’t been able to take him out of it since. The boys really like him, he carries strong and he’s physically very good.”
Sivo has scored a hat-trick in both Rhinos’ win against Warrington this year and is now on 25 tries for the season in Super League, 15 short of the record set by Denny Solomona, of Castleford Tigers, 10 years ago. Arthur, who also coached him at Parramatta Eels, is full of admiration for the way the Fijian has bounced back after missing the whole of last season because of an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
“It could be 28, he dropped one over the line,” Arthur – whose side were on a one-day camp in the Lake District this weekend – said of Sivo’s remarkable haul this term. “I am so pleased for him - he is such a likeable person, the boys love being around him.
“We know he scores a lot of tries, but he has worked so hard on his weight in terms of keeping himself at a manageable weight. He is at around 109kgs - he hasn’t an ounce of fat on him, but he is a big man and the leaner he can be, the more we can get out of him. He has worked really hard on that.”