Leeds Rhinos' Mikolaj Oledzki confirms fitness v Salford Red Devils, outlines big change under Brad Arthur

Oledzki finished last week’s 34-6 win at Huddersfield Giants on the bench after taking a knock to his ribs, but Leeds had a long turnaround to Saturday’s fixture and the front-rower insisted he is good to go. “I’m progressively getting better and better and I feel pretty good,” Oledzki confirmed. “Luckily it has gone in the right direction in the last few days.”

In a further boost, fellow ‘middles’ Justin Sangare and Mickael Goudemand are set to return following injury, but Leeds are without prop Sam Eseh who has been recalled by Wigan Warriors from his spell on loan. Rhinos will be bidding for a second win in three games under new coach Arthur and Oledzki insisted: “It has been great having him around, to kind of enforce the little things that might go missing or we might not emphasise as much as we should do.

“We have to be accountable and make sure we throw a lot of energy into the right areas, to make sure we keep building. That’s exactly what we are after.

“Brad has brought a lot of accountability to the team, the lads know where they stand and their roles in the team. They know they have to do their role to the highest standard and they’ll be held accountable if they don’t.

“It has been great having that around, that change of mindset and how we approach games. He has simplified the roles and we have to make sure we do them to a high standard. Rugby league is a pretty simple game and if 17 guys do their jobs to the highest standard and make sure they execute their roles properly, you are more likely to get a win. That’s where the accountability comes in.”

Leeds have been getting off their line more quickly since Arthur took charge and Oledzki attributed that to “front-loading energy in the right areas”. He explained: “We have become a team that concede a fair few metres in the last few months, maybe years.

“We scramble well, we are decent at stopping tries, but conceding metres was a big thing. When Brad came in he wanted us to front-load our energy in defensive areas so we get the ball back in better positions.

“After the first two games you see that by front-loading that energy you do get your rewards. All the lads are buying into that and you can see big improvements in our defence.”

Arthur signed a short-term deal until the end of this season and Oledzki added: “He is great to have around. He tells you what you need to know; if he doesn’t like something, he will tell you and if he thinks you’re doing a great job, he’ll also tell you and give your good raps.

“He is a fair coach and you know where you stand with him, which is all you can ask for as a player - to know your role and have that accountability. He is willing to help with anything you need.

Fifth-placed Salford have defied expectations this year following the loss of key players in pre-season, including stand-off Brodie Croft and hooker Andy Ackers to Leeds. They will have one foot in the play-offs if they win, while Rhinos know defeat would leave them with a mountain to climb over the final seven games of the campaign.

That makes it a huge game, for the visitors in particular, but Oledzki conceded: “You might be saying that for the next eight-nine weeks. Every game is pretty big, every game is a must-win, but also it’s important we go in the right direction as a team, keep building momentum and keep improving on the little things and make sure our performances are more consistent. We have to make sure we stay in games right until the very end.”

Carrying on from last week is Rhinos’ aim, according to Oledzki. He stressed: “Consistency is something we are after. We’ve had some good wins this year, but not managed to follow them with another good performance.

“It’s important we keep building on performances; whether it is a win or a loss the week before, we have got to make sure we go in the right direction and keep building on the little things to make our performances better and better towards the end of the season. It is going to be a big game, but we are emphasising what we do as a team and which direction we want to go in.”