Leeds Rhinos: Rohan Smith on Sam Walters' 'difficult situation', James Bentley injury, Morgan Gannon boost

The coach has also revealed why James Bentley missed Friday’s 34-10 win over Hull FC and welcomed fellow second-rower Morgan Gannon’s return to action.

Walters has played three times in Betfred Super League this year, but not featured since last month’s win over Catalans Dragons.

The 22-year-old, who is in the final year of his contract, played on dual-registration for Bradford Bulls last Monday and Rhinos’ reserves in Friday’s curtain-raiser against Hull’s second-string.

Smith said: “I speak to Sam all the time. He is playing well and he’s in a difficult situation - he is a good player, a Super League player, but when your squad’s healthy in that position and people are playing at a decent level, it’s sometimes hard to get in.

“He has played [three] games and done a good job. When the opportunity comes for him to have a game, I’ll be excited about that.”

Of Bentley, Smith revealed: “He had a groin niggle - tightness, general soreness - all the way up until [Thursday].

“He got through a bit of physio-controlled running on Thursday and was quite good, but we had plenty of fit forwards and I was pretty adamant I wanted to carry an outside-back on the bench, given the short turnaround.

“At a real pinch he could have played, but we didn’t want to risk it so we made that tough call. James will be back in the mix for this week.”

Morgan Gannon also played for Rhinos’ reserves, which was his first game since suffering concussion in the home defeat to Hull two months ago.

He came off the bench for the final half an hour, playing in the halves, but Smith said he’s “not sure yet” if the teenager will come into the reckoning to face Leigh Leopards next Friday

“We’ll see,” he said. “Ganno did well, he has done a really good block of training in the last seven weeks.

“He is a bit bigger, stronger - he is a very clever player, but giving him a chance to grow his body is number one.

“We’ll check how he pulls up; hopefully he is available for selection and makes our squad a little deeper again.”