McDermott names Leeds Cup final team
Leeds coach Brian McDermott has named his team for the Challenge Cup final against Castleford Tigers at Wembley on Saturday.
The Rhinos coach chose to reveal his line-up at a press conference on Monday, an unusually early time to name a team ahead of a final.
There are few surprises, however, in the side that he has announced.
“I’ll name the team now,” a confident McDermott told reporters.
“Zak [Hardaker]’s going to play full-back, Hall and Tom Briscoe playing wings, Kallum Watkins and Joel Moon will play in the centres.
“Kev and Mags [Kevin Sinfield and Danny Maguire] will play in the halves, with Rob Burrow playing 9. JP and Kylie [Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai] are starting front row.
“Kyle Ablett, Brett Delaney and Jamie Jones-Buchanan will start in the back row.
The bench will be Ian Kirke, Ryan Bailey, Paul Aiton and Liam Sutcliffe.”
McDermott brushed off suggestions that such an early announcement was a sign of confidence, and felt that Castleforrd coach Daryl Powell would find little to surprise him in the Leeds line-up.
He added: “It’s a sign that everybody’s fit. I think if you asked Daryl Powell and his team who our team’s going to be, then I think they’d say that.”
