6 stars included with a double fresh shot

Leeds Rhinos head coach Rohan Smith has given a comprehensive injury update, including six different players, with Harry Newman close to a return but both Riley Lumb and Brodie Croft now ruled out.

Lumb and Croft were both forced off at Headingley last weekend as the Rhinos hammered the London Broncos 46-8, with the latter crossing for a try before his exit from the Round 10 fixture.

Meanwhile, local ace Newman has missed the Rhinos’ last two games with a back problem, the latest coming in the Round 8 defeat at home to Huddersfield Giants.

Leeds’ absentees are still in double figures, although Newman could return for Saturday’s trip to Catalans Dragons, that may not be the case for long.

Leeds Rhinos injury update includes 6 fresh double-strike stars but center nears return

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Rhinos boss Smith detailed: “Lumby has done a decent hamstring.

“He will see a consultant to see if surgery will be necessary, but it will be a long layoff either way.

“Brodie has a minor groin problem which will keep him out of this weekend’s game but he will most likely be back after the break (for the Challenge Cup semi-finals).

“Harry trained yesterday, he had a good run. We don’t have any training today so we’ll see how he is tomorrow, go through that morning session and then make an assessment on whether he’ll be right to travel.

“He’s progressing well, it’s just a matter of going through the stages and finding out if he’ll be ready to play.”

Paul Momirovski also missed the win against London with an ankle problem and the club now have a firmer idea of ​​his prognosis.

Smith added: “Paul is going to be a four to six week type of injury. It is healing very well, as he speculated it might.

“The physios are happy with his progress so far, but he’ll be in the boot for a bit more and then we’ll start the rehab process.”

Rohan Smith discusses the duo ruled out by concussion

Among the Rhinos’ long list of absentees are Tom Holroyd and James Bentley, both long-term absentees with concussion problems following botched HIAs.

Bentley’s absence has been particularly notable, having not been able to feature at all since the end of April and, as Smith revealed, he still has some way to go before he can return to the pitch.

He continued: “Tom Holroyd will probably be back for the St Helens game in a couple of weeks, James Bentley has two months to go, I think off the top of my head.

“I don’t know the exact date, but early July is when we’re looking at James coming back. With all injuries, healing and recovery are number one, and that’s certainly the case with concussion, because you only get one chance at a healthy, happy brain.

“He’s had multiple concussions in a relatively small window of time, and some of those have resulted in significant symptoms, so we’re more than happy to respect that process and support James back to full health first.” .

“He’s made really good progress in the last week or two in terms of training and getting his health back, so it’s a matter of going through the healing stages and building them up to perform as we go through the next .

“It’s disappointing for everyone, but the medical staff and management team are 100% committed to doing what’s right for the player, both in terms of his short-term and long-term health when it comes to concussion cerebral.”