Brad Arthur confirms Leeds team for huge Warrington clash with one change

Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur has confirmed he will make just one change for Thursday night’s huge clash at Warrington Wolves – with fullback Lachie Miller returning from suspension.

The Rhinos head to the Halliwell Jones Stadium in a game that pits together the two teams sitting joint-top of the table as the competition passes through the halfway mark.

And Arthur has named his team 48 hours in advance – even before the Rhinos published their 21-man squad for the game at midday on Tuesday.

He has resisted the temptation to bring in the likes of Jack Bird and Tom Holroyd, confirming Miller’s return is the sole change.

Brad Arthur shares Leeds team

Miller will come back in for youngster Fergus McCormack, with Arthur admitting it wasn’t a difficult decision to bring the Australian back into the fray.

Arthur said: “Lachie is back in. I don’t want to be disrespectful to Ferg but he’s a bit of work to do.

“Lachie was the leader of the Man of Steel and he’s had a sensational season so far. He’s in our best team every single day of the week. We’re not going to under-sell what Ferg did, he did a great job for us.

“He’ll get some time in and time out and talking to him today, he said after that first 20 minutes in the second half in Toulouse he had some mental demons. But he recomposed himself to finish the game out.”

Arthur also insisted they will give Tom Holroyd another full week of training before considering whether he comes back into the mix – and said Jack Bird must be patient for his chance, with Harry Newman favoured again this week.

“Tom has only had one real strong session and he’ll get another one today,” he said. “We just thought another week would do him good. Birdy is fit and ready he’s just waiting for his opportunity.”

Arthur continued, when asked about the decision to leave Bird out in favour of England international Newman: “Birdy is going to have to wait and make the most of his chance when he gets it. The guys are putting pressure on me to make tough decisions. The guys that are in the team know there’s guys waiting to come in.”

Arthur assesses Warrington threat

Arthur admitted he expects a huge challenge from Sam Burgess’ Warrington on Thursday night, with the two sides having already played out an engrossing game earlier in the season.

But with top spot in Super League on the line at the Wolves, Arthur insisted it is a huge test for his side, having held off a second half comeback from Toulouse last week to win in the south of France.

Arthur said: “It’ll be tight.

“Both teams understand exactly what’s on the line and we’re expecting a fast, hard start from them. They play with plenty of energy and they try to out-compete their opposition. They play a good style of footy and they’ve some young guys with plenty of belief. It’s another big challenge.”