Prop idol bigs up Leeds Rhinos' pack

Veteran front-rower Adam Cuthbertson insists Leeds Rhinos’ pack is good - and big - enough to make an impact in Betfred Super League this year.
Adam Cuthbertson. Picture by Tony Johnson.Adam Cuthbertson. Picture by Tony Johnson.
Adam Cuthbertson. Picture by Tony Johnson.

With last Sunday’s game at Huddersfield Giants being postponed, the visit of Hull KR on Friday is Rhinos’ first opportunity to redeem themselves after their poor showing at home to Hull in round one.

Rhinos’ forwards copped most of the blame for that 30-4 defeat which intensified fears their pack isn’t big enough to get Leeds on the front foot against top opposition.

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Go-forward prop Ava Seumanufagai will feature after missing the Hull game due to a knee injury, but it is no secret Rhinos are trying to bring in another powerful forward.

Tom Holroyd. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.Tom Holroyd. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.
Tom Holroyd. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.

Cuthbertson, though, insisted the pack does have the tools to get the job done, tonight and through the season.

“I can’t see how we are not big enough,” the Australian - who will celebrate his 35th birthday later this month - said.

“I have played with some teams who have won things and we aren’t any smaller than those teams.

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“If you look at the likes of St Helens, who everyone says are the pinnacle of the game over here, I don’t see they have a heavy pack.

Cameron Smith. Picture by Tony Johnson.Cameron Smith. Picture by Tony Johnson.
Cameron Smith. Picture by Tony Johnson.

“They play quick, aggressive and they control the game off the ruck. I don’t think that’s down to size.

“When we start worrying about what we are good at and we get it right, I think people will quickly focus on what we are doing right and not look at that [alleged lack of size].”

Cuthbertson - who helped Rhinos to the treble in 2015 and Super League title two years later - believes Leeds' next generation of young players, including Tom Holroyd, Cameron Smith and Mikolaj Oledzki, can be the bedrock of the pack going forward.

He added: “The answer is in our locker room.

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“We have got the strength and the speed, it is just about getting combinations going forward.”

Rhinos went into the Hull fixture with high hopes after a positive pre-season, but - following some early missed opportunities - fell away badly once the visitors had opened the scoring.

It was 16-0 at the break and Hull were 24-0 ahead before Ash Handley scored Rhinos’ lone try.

Leeds have had 12 days to dwell on that disappointment and learn valuable lessons from it and Cuthbertson insisted they know what went wrong and how to put it right.

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“Against Hull we didn’t take enough advantage of scoring situations,” he admitted.

“I think it was poor execution off the back of the hype about the game and I think we just got a bit too far ahead of ourselves.

“But it is a great lesson from round one, I would rather be walking away from round one having had that lesson rather than a couple of weeks from now.

“Hull came with a really good game plan and played no nonsense rugby.

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“That’s a good lesson for this time of year, especially with the conditions.

“Sometimes you just have to go end to end with teams such as that and make them tackle before we start trying to get too clever.”

Rhinos won their three full-scale warm-up games and Cuthbertson stressed the way they played against Hull was not how they had trained or expected to perform. And he insisted Leeds can challenge any team in the competition once they get their game together.

“The team’s been brilliant all off-season,” he said.

“We’ve got some young kids coming through who have been working their backsides off in and around the joint, on and off the field.

“We have got a really good thing going on in the club.”

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Last week’s game was called off around three and a half hours before the scheduled kick-off time, because of fears for spectators’ safety en-route to and at the ground as Huddersfield was pounded by Storm Ciara.

That added to Rhinos’ frustration, but the positive was they have had extra time to prepare for tonight, rather than the expected five-day turnaround.

“We were all really looking forward to last Sunday afternoon, to right the wrongs, go out and execute and have a really good game,” Cuthbertson recalled.

“We wanted to show a bit of what we have been doing so well in training and those trial matches.

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“It is unfortunate it got called off and as a group we were disappointed because we were fired up and ready to go, but it has worked out well in the end.

“We’ll turn up with a bit of a longer turn around and we’ve worked on a few things and we will come out firing.”

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