Leeds Rhinos suffer quadruple injury blow included dreaded ACL

Leeds Rhinos are dealing with a string of injury concerns after their pre-season win over Bradford Bulls, headlined by a potentially devastating setback for youngster Max Simpson.

The outside back, is believed to have suffered another ACL injury, with the 21-year-old now facing rehab on the same injury for the second time at the start of his career.

But the Rhinos also have concerns surrounding Ash Handley (groin) and James McDonnell (ankle) with scans to determine the extent of their injuries. Chris Hankinson fractured his nose but will be ok to play.

“Max has to go and get scans but it’s a suspected ACL, unfortunately,” Arthur said. “Chank (Chris Hankinson) has probably got a fractured nose, so we’ll bandage that up and kick on in a couple of weeks. Ash has a twinge in his groin so we need to get some scans and Macca we need to check for a syndesmosis.”

On Simpson, whose injury is thought to be in the other knee to his previous injury, Arthur said: “Nobody likes injuries but that kid, he’s just had a rough trod. You can see when he got out there, he had some good, strong carries. Clearly he can play. He’s just a kid. He probably can’t be any more resilient than he is but hopefully it can make him nice and tough. He’s got a career there. He’s only young.”

He added: “It’s a tough injury to deal with and we feel sorry for Max, not the injury today, it’s just the series of injuries he’s had to deal with in his career. He’s a good young kid, he’s got a future, we’ve signed him for three years and we’re going to back him.

“He came in the sheds holding it together pretty good. I thought I was going to walk into a bloke embroiled in tears. Obviously when he gets home and it settles in it’s going to be disappointing for him.”

It comes at a time when Leeds are still unsure whether Maika Sivo and Jeremiah Matautia will be fit for the opening round clash with Leigh. Sivo is closing in on a return from an ACL injury, while Matautia has a knee issue.

“They’re close,” Arthur said on the pair. “We’ve waited this long for Maika. We’ve just got to make sure. He’s close to round one or two, but he’s going really well.

“Part of Maika’s issue was holding his weight and not blowing out but currently, right now, he’s 109 kilos, which is great. I’ve coached him a while now and can’t remember the last time he was under 110 kilos. He doesn’t talk a lot buit hopefully he can give some encouraging words to Max.”