Top Leeds Rhinos man to feature for reserves: coach's 'play well' message for 'disappointed' star

Coach Brad Arthur said Australian scrum-half Matt Frawley will line up with Rhinos’ second-string when they take on St Helens at Stanningley’s Arthur Miller Stadium (7pm kick-off). Frawley missed the Betfred Challenge Cup defeat at Saints two weeks ago after suffering concussion in the previous game, away to Catalans Dragons.

The former Huddersfield Giants pivot - who played for Canterbury Bulldogs and Canberra Raiders in the southern hemisphere NRL - returned to Rhinos’ initial squad for the win over Wigan Warriors five days ago, but was 18th man on the day as Jake Connor continued in the half-back role, alongside stand-off Brodie Croft. Arthur is likely to field an unchanged 17 in tomorrow’s Super League fixture at Warrington Wolves, which would mean Frawley misses out for a third successive game.

The coach praised Frawley for the way he has reacted to the setback and insisted he has to be ready to step back in when injuries or form give him a chance. “He is handling it professionally, like I’d expect he would,” Arthur said at his weekly preview press conference today. “He trained this week and last week against us and lifted the standard of the opposition training against us.

“That’s the professional man he is. He is obviously disappointed and I’d be worried if he wasn’t; he has not shown that through his attitude or his actions, but you can tell he is disappointed. His process now is he has just got to train well. He plays with the reserve-grade team tonight and he has got to play well.”

Frawley, who joined Leeds ahead of the 2024 campaign, is out of contract at the end of this season. His campaign so far has been disrupted by a couple of injuries - including a badly cut hand in round two at Salford Red Devils - and the concussion coincided with full-back Lachie Miller’s return at full-back, which freed up Connor for a move into the halves.

“Things chop and change in our game,” Arthur added. “It has taken me this long to get to the same team two weeks in a row, for the first time since I’ve been here. Injuries happen, form drops off, but what it also does is provide good, healthy competition.

“The other guys in the team know they’ve got a very credible player who should be in the team, wants to be in the team and is trying to force his way in. It keeps the other guys on their toes.”

With some clubs struggling for numbers going into round six, Arthur admitted being able to leave out a key player is a good situation to be in. He said: “It’s great. I am grateful to our performance guys that they’ve got all these guys fit and firing. It is my job to try to get them playing their best footy and trying to put pressure on each other. Having a healthy squad creates good competition for spots, which should generate better performances, I would hope.”