Burrow and Cuthbertson injury blow for Leeds
Brian McDermott has confirmed that Adam Cuthbertson and Rob Burrow are to miss Leeds’ game with Catalans Dragons on Friday night.
Cuthbertson and Burrow are added to an ever growing list of injuries that the Rhinos have, that include the likes of Ashton Golding and current Man of Steel Zak Hardaker.
The Rhinos head coach has admitted his frustration at not having two players of such quality at his disposal as the club look to overcome the Catalans Dragons at Headingley.
“Rob Burrow and Adam Cuthbertson are not fit either, that’s a blow,” he told the club’s official website.
“But given where we’re at, it’s about the 13 players that take the field and ultimately the 17 that play on gameday that have to come up with a performance. It’s disappointing that players of Rob and Cuthbo’s standard can’t play but collectively what we’ve got to do is come up with a performance.
“That’s the process we’ve been in for the majority of the year where blokes have been carrying all week and some can’t train, and we’ve got to make a call either 24 or 48 hours before a game.”
McDermott has received a boost ahead of Friday’s game however, with the inclusion of Joel Moon in his 19-man squad, and the head coach believes it’s a boost for his side ahead of facing the Dragons.
“Well it’s great for Moony,” he said.
“Obviously being out for the majority of the year and even when he was playing his body wasn’t right. He is good for us, and he’s been one of our better players over the last few seasons so it’s really pleasing.”
The Rhinos head into this weekend’s game on the back off a 52-18 defeat at Warrington Wolves, and criticism of the club’s defensive effort has been mentioned in the aftermath of the game.
McDermott has said they have worked on this in training, but when asked further about whether it will affect their performance on Friday, he was unsure.
“I don’t know, I’ll tell you on gameday, and I’m not trying to be funny,” he said.
“What we do in practice and what we do in spells on gameday is clearly not good enough. Our second half performance against Warrington, especially defensively, the word unacceptable gets used a lot but that’s a great example of what is unacceptable.
“There were parts where we weren’t committed, but we’ve made the right noises and done the right things this week. Some of those are needed, and sometimes it’s good to have those but there’s enough talking been done and we’ve got to do it on gameday.”