Leeds Rhinos put on guard against threat of Hull KR ace Matt Parcell

The Rhinos coach reckons six-time Grand Final champion Hall’s quality will help Rovers, who finished bottom of Betfred Super League last year and suffered three heavy defeats by Leeds.

And he has also warned his side about the danger posed by Hull KR’s in-form hookers, Matt Parcell and Jez Litten.

Parcell was a Grand Final winner and voted into the Super League Dream Team in 2017, his first year at Leeds, but gradually fell out of favour after that and moved to Rovers midway through 2019.

Agar, though, insisted he has never been in any doubt about the Australian’s ability and reckons he is one of the players who makes Rovers tick.

“They have a double-pronged attack from their hookers,” Agar noted.

“Matty will be highly-motivated because he is a former player here.

“I am a big admirer of Matty, even though I was coach when he left the club - the style he plays within their team and the amount of time he runs the ball and tests your ‘A’ defenders’ inside shoulders.”

Last week’s 25-24 defeat of Huddersfield Giants was the Robins’ first win this season and Agar believes they have been playing better than their results suggest.

He said: “I watched their game against Castleford [which they lost on golden point] and for 70 minutes they were a team who looked like winners.

“Saints, as they can do, blew them away for 15-20 minutes at the start of the game, but I thought Hull KR held their gloves up really well for the rest of that game and they were pretty good for large chunks of the game last week.

“They play a different style and probably ask different questions in how they rob you of energy, with their offloads and ball movement.

“They are not afraid to chance their arm and ask questions through their kicking game and I think the quality they’ve brought in with Ryan Hall will help them.

“I also think George King has been very good for them, he has great speed and his footwork has been great.”

Support the YEP and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news and the latest on Leeds United, With a digital subscription, you see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.