Super League: How Leeds Rhinos and Castleford Tigers confront the conundrums in 2022 | News about rugby league
There are few head coaches on the current Betfred Super League who are not facing their squad ravaged by injury, though perhaps none have been affected as badly in a key position as coaching. Castleford Tigers chief Lee Radford.
Such is the number of injuries that have affected Castleford’s full-back options this year, Radford would be forgiven for wondering if there’s some sort of curse on his mainstays in 2022. when they entered the decisive match to the Leeds Rhinos, living on Sports skyon Saturday.
Danny Richardson joins Gareth O’Brien and Jake Trueman on the sidelines after a suspected ACL injury in Monday’s 50-10 Bank Holiday defeat at home to the Salford Reds, which means – not the first this year – the makeshift duo of winger Greg Eden and prostitute Paul McShane are likely to line up for two innings at Headingley.
Leeds Rhinos vs Castleford Tigers
September 3, 2022, 2:30 pm
Live on
“I think we’re down to options five and six,” Radford said, discussing how the disruption has affected the Tigers this season. “When you get too far down the pecking order, you know you’re going to mind a little bit about the fluency you play and your kicking game.
“That comes with that not just being a real kick but putting yourself in a position to kick. Greg is not a born footballer and neither is Jake Mamo, so there’s the column. Our lives are right there.
“It’s no secret, Paul McShane will do the majority of our kicks and Adam Milner isn’t a natural out of 9 player either, so to go to the biggest ballpark on the planet and get there without Which match to play is another challenge we will have to face.”
One head coach who will certainly sympathize with having to rotate through ever-changing pairs of defenders is his opposite this weekend, said Rohan Smith, who has been through the same thing since taking charge. rights in the Rhinos in May.
Castleford Tigers team up in Super League 2022
Player | Games played together | |
---|---|---|
Jake Trueman | Gareth O’Brien | ten |
Danny Richardson | Jake Trueman | 4 |
Gareth O’Brien | Danny Richardson | 4 |
Greg Eden | Danny Richardson | 4 |
Paul McShane | Jake Trueman | 3 |
Gareth O’Brien | Paul McShane | first |
Before the season began, much of the focus in Leeds was on the impact of their duo Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin. However, the combination of injury and suspension means the pair have only played together in nine of the Rhinos’ 26 Super League games to date.
Indeed, Leeds have used no less than 11 different full-back partnerships in the competition in 2022, although that has been mitigated by the flexible Richie Myler filling in the position he has already established. name, when not arranged at full-back. roles he has transformed in recent years.
Myler did so again alongside Jack Sinfield – son of the great rugby legend Kevin – in a 32-18 loss to the Catalans Dragons on Monday, although both Sezer and Austin are expected to come back. kick against Castleford after returning from suspension and injury respectively.
“Aidan is starting to get a little bit of form and a bit of rhythm and get into his game after a couple of hiatuses this season,” Smith said. “But he’s an experienced lad, he knows how to play, so he’ll be ready to come back and come back fresh after the long Bank Holiday weekend.
Leeds Rhinos team up in Super League 2022
Player | Games played together | |
---|---|---|
Aidan Sezer | Blake Austin | 9 |
Aidan Sezer | Richie Myler | 3 |
Richie Myler | Blake Austin | 3 |
Blake Austin | Liam Sutcliffe | 2 |
Blake Austin | Kruise Leeming | 2 |
Richie Myler | Cameron Smith | 2 |
Blake Austin | Jack Sinfield | first |
Kruise Leeming | Jack Sinfield | first |
Richie Myler | Jack Sinfield | first |
Aidan Sezer | Corey Johnson | first |
Corey Johnson | Liam Sutcliffe | first |
“It’s not about any individual and we’re not really looking for a big game or big moments, we’re looking at performance consistency across the players and the process we’re in. trying to do.”
However, it wasn’t just the innings that Castleford had to adapt to, with other players being pulled out of position or having to play more minutes than usual.
However, Alex Mellor believes the team face a challenge as they try to extend their season into the playoffs when they take on his former side Leeds.
“It’s the little things like people putting their hands up and playing for as long as they need to and things like that,” Mellor said. “We all adapted to it and brought it on board.
“The injury crisis is huge and it’s happening all over the Super League; I don’t know what it is, but it’s happening and every club has to deal with it differently.
“Every club probably thinks they’re on to the worst – we certainly think so. Whether it’s bad luck or something like that, it’s just one of the things we have to react to. good response and response, and hopefully that’s what we’re doing.”
For his part, Smith isn’t too concerned about who may or may not line up against Rhinos for the match where the winner qualifies for the sixth and final Super League playoffs, citing one situation. similar when the two sides met at Magic Weekend in Newcastle and Leeds ended up with 34-20 winners.
“Before we played them at Magic, there was a similar conversation about people not showing up and they were playing a really hard game – and it was a hard game,” Smith said.
“Despite the scoreline, I believe it is much closer and we are expecting a battle.”
Team is named
Leeds Rhinos: Liam Sutcliffe, Ash Handley, Blake Austin, Mikolaj Oledzki, Kruise Leeming, Matt Prior, James Bentley, Rhyse Martin, Zane Tetevano, Brad Dwyer, Richie Myler, Cameron Smith, Tom Briscoe, Morgan Gannon, Sam Walters, Jarrod O’Connor, James Donaldson, Liam Tindall, Jack Sinfield, Zak Hardaker.
Castleford Tiger: Derrell Olpherts, Jake Mamo, Bureta Faraimo, Paul McShane, George Lawler, Adam Milner, Joe Westerman, Nathan Massey, George Griffin, Mahe Fonua, Alex Sutcliffe, Daniel Smith, Greg Eden, Suaia Matagi, Brad Martin, Sam Hall, Cain Robb , Jason Qareqare, Alex Mellor.