Leeds Rhinos Richard Agar boss shrugs off Headingley home advantage for Super League restart

Rhinos will be back in action a month tomorrow when they take on Huddersfield Giants.

That fixture will be the third part of a triple-header which begins with a clash between Toronto Wolfpack and Hull KR and also includes St Helens against Catalans Dragons.

For financial and health reasons, all three games will be played on the same day, at one venue, behind closed doors.

Multiple matches at one stadium is likely to be the case until crowds are allowed back, possibly in September or October.

Five clubs - Rhinos, Huddersfield, Salford Red Devils, St Helens and Warrington Wolves - have applied to stage the fixtures played behind closed doors.

A decision on which venues will be used - based on facilities, the number of changing rooms available and other health and safety factors - is expected next Monday, when the full fixture list is announced.

The rebuilt Headingley is a leading contender, having already staged one double-header this year in Super League round one.

Four of Rhinos’ five games before Covid-19 were played on their own turf, but Agar insisted an empty stadium will nullify home advantage.

“If the games are at Headingley, obviously it is our home ground and there is some familiarity,” he said.

“But there’s going to be no crowd and I think if you asked any one of our players, they would say they do give us a big advantage when we are at home. Either way, if it’s at Headingley or not - we will just get on with it.”

Agar added: “Playing on neutral grounds, teams are pretty used to it and I think if you take the fans out of it, it does negate it a bit.

“Headingley is a great venue, super facilities and it will be a great playing surface by the time we get back.

“I can think of worse venues to base our competition.”

Agar admitted it will take time for teams to get back to their pre-shutdown level.

“Of all the teams in Super League coming off the pre-season break, I thought Huddersfield were the most impressive in the way they started the year,” he said of Leeds’ first opponents.

“I thought they were very strong, but there’s going to be some unknown - I think the comp has the potential to look very different.

“We are talking about rule changes and we’ve had a very lengthy time off and no real contact with our players.

“If you think in two and a half weeks you are going to cram enough skills, weights training and all that into them, then the likelihood is you’re not. We are just going to have to adapt on the run and get better as we go on.”

Agar also reckons form earlier this year will have little bearing on the final 22 rounds. He warned: “The financial impact of Covid is yet to be seen and I am sure that, at times, could have an impact on your team and your squad.

“It is different at every club, but there’s certainly some unknown there. Given all the circumstances it could certainly be a different-looking and different style of competition, but whatever they throw at us - as I am sure most clubs would - we will attack it.

“While we’ve been off the spirit of the game and the good in the game has really shone through, everyone has pulled together and hopefully we can get a terrific, compelling competition up and running, even if it has a slightly different look to it.”

Meanwhile, this year’s Magic Weekend, which was “postponed” in April, has now been cancelled. Super League had planned to rearrange the event, but with the competition reduced from 29 to 22 rounds, that has now been axed.

The 2021 Magic Weekend has been confirmed for St James’s Park, Newcastle, on May 29 and 30 and tickets bought for this year’s event will remain valid.

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