Stars come out for McGuire’s testimonial
Leeds Rhinos Head Coach Brian McDermott has named his strongest possible side for Danny McGuire’s testimonial game against Bradford Bulls on Sunday 20th January, kick off 3pm, at Headingley Carnegie.
The side includes all seven of the Rhinos England internationals including national captain Kevin Sinfield whilst new signings Joe Vickey and Joel Moon are also included in the starting line up whilst Mitch Achurch will make an appearance off the bench.
McDermott believes that McGuire deserves a big turn out for his testimonial clash after over ten years outstanding service for the Rhinos. He commented, “There have been a few well deserved testimonials at Leeds because there has been a conveyor belt of long serving players and there is a danger that people get used to testimonials and pay lip service to them. But if anyone deserves a testimonial it is Danny McGuire because he has not just lit up Leeds Rhinos but Super League as a whole for the last ten years. He is the leading try scorer of all time in Super League, which is a hell of achievement in itself when you consider that he is only just 30 and has a good few years ahead of him. To get a testimonial is a great milestone but to have done it in the style that Magsy has, winning big games for the Rhinos and scoring sensational tries, is fantastic.”
McDermott is in a unique position to judge the threat that McGuire poses having coached him and against him. Such is the reputation of the Leeds stand off that McDermott says teams can over compensate which presents chances for his team mates. He added, “I once heard someone refer to Mike Tyson as ‘a great’ and the legendary boxing journalist Bert Sugar countered them and said he wasn’t a great because he had not maintained his dominance at the top for a long enough period. Last season plenty of people were saying that Sam Tomkins is going to be a great of our game, well as good a prospect as Sam is, if he is still doing that in six or seven years time then he will be regarded as someone who has shown the class that Danny has done. As a coach preparing a team to face Danny McGuire, you can be guilty of concentrating too much on Danny, as teams are with Sam Tomkins now, because of the threat he poses which allows other people to play well.
“Every single week that Danny McGuire plays, every team wants to take him out because he has such an influence on his team and the scoreline. Every single week Danny has to be on his guard because defences are coming for him and yet over the course of ten years he is still a massive influence on the game. He is not someone who goes under the radar, he is massively on everyone’s radar and still he produces the goods, which I think is remarkable,” added McDermott.
Leeds team to face Bradford:
1. Zak Hardaker
25. Joe Vickery
3. Kallum Watkins
4. Joel Moon
5. Ryan Hall
6. Danny McGuire
13. Kevin Sinfield
17. Ian Kirke
7. Rob Burrow
10. Jamie Peacock
11. Jamie Jones-Buchanan
15. Brett Delaney
12. Carl Ablett
Subs:
9. Paul McShane
16. Ryan Bailey
19. Mitch Achurch
18. Chris Clarkson
20. Darrell Griffin
Fans can pay on the day on Sunday with adult ground entry priced at £15 and seats for £20. Concessions are £10 and £15 with Under 16s £5 for both ground entry and seats. Tickets can be purchased by calling 0871 423 1315 or online at www.therhinos.co.uk/buytickets.