Leeds Rhinos to recall five injury returnees with duo set for debuts

Maika Sivo will make his long-awaited Leeds Rhinos debut this weekend as Brad Arthur prepares to welcome back five players for their clash with York Knights – including Man of Steel Jake Connor.

The powerful winger suffered an ACL injury before the start of the 2025 season following his move from Parramatta Eels, a setback that kept him on the sidelines for the entirety of the year.

But he is in Leeds’ 21-man squad for the clash with the Knights and Brad Arthur confirmed he would feature in the match, debuting alongside Jeremiah Matautia who will also play in the contest.

“The person who has suffered the most is him and his family,” Arthur said. “They’ve come a long way and the level of expectation was high. To uproot their family, his family deserves this the most, and he gets rewarded by getting to play this week.

“Expectation isn’t too great, his fitness his down as he hasn’t played for a while. We had the option to play him in a reserve-grade game but I didn’t think he’d get much out of that. I think we need to just throw in him the deep end and the boys look after him.”

Sivo and Matautia will be joined on the field by Connor, Keanan Palasia and Cameron Smith, who also missed last week’s defeat to Leigh Leopards.

Ash Handley hasn’t been risked but is on track to play in Las Vegas next week, but the news isn’t as positive for Mikolaj Oledzki, who is set for a spell on the sidelines with his rib injury.

“He (Handley) is a little bit cranky I didn’t give him the opportunity to play this week. He’s getting very close but we haven’t considered him in the 21, he just hasn’t done the training load and was too big a risk.”

On Oledzki, Arthur said: “He didn’t need surgery which is great, but he’s a four-to-six-weeker. It’s not great news for him but he understands it’s part of the game, unfortunately.”