Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur praises signings, is pleased with Festive Challenge win despite injury blow

Arthur started the Wetherby Whaler Festive Challenge against Wakefield Trinity with his strongest-available side on the field and Leeds led 12-0 at the break. Numerous changes were made after the interval and Trinty battled back to go four ahead with seven minutes left, but teenager George Brown’s late try, converted by Jack Sinfield, sealed an 18-16 success.

Arthur reflected: “The majority of the squad got through healthy, which is nice. I thought physically we were pretty good, we looked fit and our effort areas were good.”

Rhinos’ players now have nine days off before training resumes in the new year. The team boss admitted the result was “nice for the fans” , but stressed: “It wasn’t about a win or a loss for me, it was about making sure the boys got to make a few runs and a few tackles and they all got through it healthy. Now they can go away, have a rest and come back ready.”

A knee injury suffered by substitute hooker Jarrod O’Connor, who lasted only nine minutes, was the only major concern for Leeds. “He will go for scans,” Arthur revealed. “They are thinking maybe MCL (medial collateral ligament), but it’s early days and we don’t want to jump the gun.”

Jake Connor - who had been set to play at centre, but started in the full-back role after Alfie Edgell sustained a broken jaw in training last weekend - scored all Leeds’ first half points, converting his own brace of tries. The former Hull FC and Huddersfield Giants man also had a spell in the halves after the break and was Rhinos’ official man of the match in his first game for the club.

Arthur said: “He was good, he did a couple of good things with the ball. He let a couple of kicks bounce early and missed his assignment on a couple of buts and piecves, but overall he was good.”

Arthur was pleased with all five new signings, though Cooper Jenkins picked up a slight dead-leg which restricted him to around 20 minutes. The coach added: “They did all right.

“Mika [Sivo] has some good touches - though he probably needed to score that try [when he made a long-range break in the first half] - and Keenan [Palasia] did some good things.

“He had to cover in the back-row a bit for us, but he’s more of a middle and that’s where we want him to play. Hally [Ryan Hall] was good out of the back-field and got us started.”

Prop Tom Holroyd, who has been sidelined since suffering a concussion last June, was among Rhinos’ substitutes. He was given 15 minutes in the second half and Arthur confirmed that was the pre-match plan.

“He had been training really well, then he got a strain in his quad and he was out for a couple of weeks,” he said. “He has probably only been back in a bit over a week in training.”