Leeds Rhinos v Huddersfield Giants latest Super League team news and 21-man squads
Homegrown talent Fergus McCormack will make his Super League debut for Leeds Rhinos in tonight’s (Friday) home meeting with Huddersfield Giants.
The 20-year-old is set to start at full-back as Lachie Miller begins a three-game ban. McCormack joined Rhinos’ scholarship in 2021 and was academy player of the season two years later before a hamstring injury towards the end of 2024 limited him to just half a game in the reserves during the next 18 months.
He returned to full training in January and made his first team debut just two weeks later as a substitute in Rhinos’ Betfred Challenge Cup win at Widnes Vikings. “He is a good mover and one of those kids all the boys like,” coach Brad Arthur said.
“When I told him there was a really good chance he could play, he was trying not to smile and get too excited about it. He had seen discussions around Lachie so was already prepping as if he was going to play, which is a great from him, good attitude.
“He has done a heap of video on the opposition so he is ready to go. He has had to work hard and it has been a long road to get to where he is now, but the pressure is on the team to get it right for him, not on him to get it right for the team. We’ve got a job to do, to do our roles to the best of our ability to support him and make his job and his night enjoyable.”
Though he can play in the halves, Arthur regards McCormack as a full-back. He added: He can play either/or. I like the bit of freedom he gets at full-back because he is very similar to Lachie when Lachie was a bit younger - he would probably take more risks than he does now. He is a lot more measured.
“Young Fergie will probably over-play a bit at times and chance his hand a bit, but we are going to back him and support him. He is a really good runner of the ball and that’s what we want him to focus on.”
Leeds’ other likely change for the Sky Sports+ game sees Presley Cassell come into the 17 for prop Tom Holroyd who has a back injury. Tom Nicholson-Watton and Riley Lumb are on standby, alongside youngsters Zak Lloyd and Jacob Hardy.
Giants are without Taane Milne through suspension, Adam Swift picked up a knock against St Helens last week and Asher O’Donnell and Jack Billington also drop out. Sam Hewitt, Kieran Rush and Connor Carr come into an initial 20-man squad.
Leeds Rhinos: from Sivo, Newman, Handley, Hall, Croft, Connor, Oledzki, O’Connor, Watkins, McDonnell, Palasia, Hankinson, Jenkins, Smith, Cassell, Lumb, Levi, Nicholson-Watton, F McCormack, Lloyd, Hardy.
Huddersfield Giants: from Evalds, Gagai, Lolohea, Powell, Woolford, Hewitt, Rushton, Rogers, English, King, Greenwood, Rush, Cozza, Patolo, Carr, Blacker, Russell, Geyer, Kershaw, Jagger.
Referee: Jack Smith (Wigan). Kick-off: Friday, 8pm.