Cooper Jenkins update after prop’s vision problem ends night in Catalans win
Cooper Jenkins and Chris Hankinson celebrate a Leeds Rhinos try v Catalans Dragons in 2026
Leeds Rhinos prop Cooper Jenkins was withdrawn from their victory over Catalans early on Saturday evening with blurred vision, Brad Arthur has confirmed.
The prop left the field in the opening exchanges of the Rhinos’ 28-6 victory in Perpignan, which saw them reaffirm their four-point lead at the Super League summit.
It was their first victory away from home against Catalans for a number of years, with Leeds having not scored a point in each of their last three visits to Perpignan.
But they once again underlined why they are rapidly emerging as favourites to win Super League in 2026 with another statement result.
Key prop duo come off in Catalans win
However, the withdrawal of both Jenkins and fellow forward Mikolaj Oledzki will have been of concern to Rhinos supporters, with Arthur providing an update post-match.
Arthur admitted the Australian forward had an issue with his vision and had to exit the field prematurely, with Jenkins unable to return.
Meanwhile, Oledzki left the field with a shoulder problem that also saw him leave the field. Oledzki’s injury did not appear to immediately sound serious – with Arthur admitting he could have returned if Leeds had needed him to.
Arthur said: “Cooper had blurred vision after 16 minutes, and didn’t come off. Mikolaj got a bit of a stinger, he could have come back on but he didn’t need to.
“There were some big performances. Chris Hankinson was really tough, we gave him a bit of a reward at the end by taking him off.”
Leeds execute Catalans game-plan perfectly
Arthur also revealed that with soaring temperatures in the south of France, the Rhinos’ plan was to stifle Catalans with an attempt to dominate possession – something Leeds did to great effect.
That forced Catalans into making early interchanges and ultimately allowed Leeds to grind John Cartwright’s side down.
He said: “The boys have bought in. I was really happy with our start to the second half, it boiled over a little bit but we were able to calm down and get back to what we wanted to. We wanted to come here and dominate possession which we were able to do.
“We had 60-plus per cent possession (in the first half) and they had to use five changes because of it. We wanted to keep it simple and we thought we could do it through our possession.”
Arthur also confirmed Jake Connor is fine after taking a blow to his neck and suffering a stinger injury in the closing stages.
