Weekly Round Up – Round 12

We preview St Helens vs Leeds Rhinos. Enjoy!

how do you think bro CRT looked today um thought he looked like Brady CRT but in a better color jersey back to leag the golden generation finally has it golden F no England game it seems is complete without the Ryan Hall try kinfield Jamie Jones it’s one of the most popular beards in Rook leag super can do that we just watch to be a great friend and if we can all try and be a bit of a better friend from time to time I think we have a bit a better place to the lot pod is kindly sponsored by Fast Signs Fast Signs are an established family room business who’ve been providing businesses around leads and West Yorkshire with effective signs and graphics for almost 30 years Fast Signs are passionate about helping customers make a statement with signs are eye-catching effective and delivered fast hello and welcome to the lot pod I am your host this evening I am statman Reese there is no Eddie this evening so I am back from Catalan taking the rains uh we was always always want to thank our sponsors Fast Signs Fast Signs are sponsor of the podcast I don’t want to thank them for introducing me to Jet 27 while in perping last weekend um but also want to thank you all for engaging with the podcast as you always do if you do enjoy the podcast please make sure you’re hitting that follow button on Spotify rating us on five stars obviously we’re on that journey of pushing our YouTube channel to a th subscribers this year we’re over the 500 Mark we want to hit that thousand number so if you do enjoy watching on YouTube leave a like our videos uh and please subscribe uh to our YouTube channel and we also have our patreon account as well and as we’ve always said of our patreon it’s not to put our content behind the payroll uh it’s just that if anyone wants to contribute anything from 1 P3 pound for5 every month one month any sort of appreciation or money is appreciated because it helps us move the podcast forward we’re back um we’ve had obviously a weekend Hiatus courtesy of uh us losing in the challenge Cup first round at the first attemp again uh this is the weekly Roundup for round 12 and we’ve got lots to get through this evening uh and to join me to go for all of that is producer Chris producer Chris how are we I’m all right well I apologize if I cough throughout it got a bit of a flu thing going on but yeah other than that I’m fine not you weren’t you weren’t too jealous of my trip to uh Catalan I don’t want to talk about that thank you I think I could go on from about an hour and a half two hours about how everyone should always do at least one weekend in per young for the uh for a catalana way trip it was absolutely fantastic I think we should all do it next year we should do it we should organize a lot pod I do like organizing and planning so maybe have to become a travel agent for the lot pod for for next year but it was great to have about a, to, 1400 Lee fans out there if anyone’s not done it I absolutely uh employ you to do it anyway on to the what’s happened in the last couple of weeks we’ve got quite a lot to get through and I’ll start with the netball team so um two weekend ago the Rhinos netball team played sarens and won 59 49 and then then followed that up with a win against team Baff uh at uh in Sheffield which was a 65 to 50 win which has seen them rise up the table we’ve also had the women’s under 19 Academy playing York Valkyrie obviously we know York Valkyrie have a great focus on women and I’ve got some great young talent coming through but our women Talent are better because we won 28 points to 20 and a great result there so great to see the next generation of rhinos women coming through we then had our reserves as well they played um Bradford Bulls on the 16th of May and they smashed uh Bradford away 40 points to nil um Ned McCormack getting one of the tries there but there was one 2 3 4 5 six seven tries scored in that game and then on to the Shining Light of Le rhinos at the moment I don’t know if you agree Chris but Le rhinos women um have had two fantastic results uh in recent weeks uh on Sunday the 12th they got revenge for the Grand Final last year by beating York away so beating York in their own in their own Stadium 16 points to 10 with tri and cly beavers Shah Hoy with Ruby enight getting four goals and then if you were watching The Challenge Cup this weekend you would have seen Le rhinos WI beat Wigan 3420 to book a third Wembley appearance in a row um Chris fantastic game for the women uh at the weekend did he did he catch some of it yes I C I watched the first I watched the other game actually against York because it was on that were a belting game um I watched the first half against Wigan and then the second half sort of I was at my mate’s house in the garden so I kind of yeah in now it was lovely weather um so I’ve watched a bit on capture I thought it were a great game and um one thing that’s that’s good whether people will agree with this is we going to come in on nearly be honest I was going to say mention that because I think Wigan beat us in the Grand Final I think in or challenge Cup in 2020 or maybe even 2019 and it always sort of been a free horse race recently between York leads and Saints and Wigan really pushed the women you know I think it was 14 all at halftime and leads were chasing the game for most of the first half in fact 10 it’s in the second half you know Wigan went ahead and leads were chasing but just stepped up that Gear with 30 minutes to go they just said too much class and size I think um wigg and a fairly small because they’re quite young aren they got a lot of young players yeah yeah and I mean to be honest if I saw Z HBY running at me I I would hesitate because but some of some of the pack are outstanding I thought nor FR was brilliant Ruby Enright is a player that I didn’t really notice much last year but you I thought she was fantastic and she got a short kickoff she did a short kickoff successfully grubbed it right at the start and collected it did two did she do two well she did that pretty cool one when she just went straight forward but she did one yeah hard to the left it went bounced over the wig and player’s head yeah so lucky Miller take note please and because just on Ruby she’s fa I didn’t know much about her so she got smashed last year didn’t she in um was it the F Grand Final yeah I was at that tackle yeah and to be fair she just got up didn’t she yes she did um she looks quite slight but yeah she’s and she’s a good goal kicker as well which um is a massive Plus in the women’s game yeah I think that’s made a massive difference because last year obviously they lost CFI wifed Hill and I think you noticed that bit but Ruby’s really stepped up in that kicking game she’s got a really good sort of playing relationship as well with um Hannah butcher playing at six you know they link up really really well in the games that I’ve watched so I mean just just go going through the TR scorers there was Caitlyn beavers Kiera betet Ruby enro got to herself Zoe Hornby Murray got one obviously Hannah butcher as well so loads of good TR scorers in there yeah Hannah butcher she’s uh a really like it because she looks really unassuming don’t she yeah you know what I mean it’s like yeah she um I don’t mean that in a bad way but like she don’t look like a women’s rby league player to me but she’s so T um she’s and she’s a great Captain so I think um I really enjoy watching women’s games when I try to catch him whenever I can thought about going tomorrow because it’s a double header isn’t it it is yeah um going but I don’t know whether they’ll let you out in between games well it’s not like putter field where they’ll charge it twice um to watch the watch the games don’t in a stadium for five hours but yeah so I might I might ring him and see but yeah I might I might go across I I just think it’s um they play the game properly as in there no messing about is no they don’t they know the I think I saw a couple of comments in our WhatsApp group about how strong they were taking the ball and how strong they were carrying you know there was some really good structure in there as well I think kir Bennett’s come on massively and at Hooker as well and her distribution’s got on is so much better as well but they do play really well Lois has got them playing really well and she’s a fantastic coach proven by the fact it’s the third trip to Wembley oh third chance got fin in a row uh same with the Grand Final as well hopefully um and they’ve had some tough games you know in recent weeks you know playing York last week playing Wigan in the cup this week and to go play Saints coming if they win all three of those um me and Eddie were saying they should have won every game last year well they might win they might they might do it this year maybe we’re we’re a year premature last year they probably would have won every game if they didn’t lose the place to NRL yeah they did yeah um and they’ve they’ve cooked really well with that um I do just looking at it holistically like from a I just want a couple of other teams to step up a bit like Huddersfield made a big Fanfare about being professional and there’s nothing about anything they’re doing with women’s game is there no and obviously was the the bit about charging but anyway look our women Shining Light as always and as they have been in recent years uh at the club um well done for you to weing Wembley obviously if anyone wants to go down to the challenge cup make sure you’re going down and supporting the women as well we’ll stick with the women because like Chris has said it is a double header this weekend so if you are going to the Saints away match get there early and you’ll see probably a better game of rugby in the foot in the women’s game than you will in the men’s um are more competitive uh in my opinion um but the women kick off at half five um as a opening game for the main event well re said that again sorry I think it’s on Sky I think it will be on it might be on yes it’s on Main Event Sky uh from 5 o’ as well so yeah if you’re not going you can see them on Sky um that is the first of four fixtures against St Helens this weekend obviously the men which we’ll preview in a second on Saturday the under 18s are also away uh to St Helens uh who have finally picked up a bit of form with wins over Hull and Wakefield they did play Saints early on in the year and lost 3222 so they’ll be hoping to avenge that and the fourth fixture against St hland is the under 19’s women’s Academy will hopefully want to follow on from their back-to-back home wins against feveron and York and then the netb side with four rounds remaining in the net ball Super League go away to Su storm on Saturday as well so that’s all the fixtures and results just a couple of bits of news that have gone on again it’s been quite a lot happening in the last um couple of weeks just a couple of fixture changes to note so um I think our game against um Warrington on round 17 has which the away game has been moved to the Thursday night for those that want to go to that and also the game um in round 19 away at Huddersfield has now been moved to Thursday night which is the 25th of July there is also an open training session so if you’ve ever been to if you’ve never been to one before there is an open training session on Friday the 31st of men to watch men 31st of May to watch the men uh take part in their team run before Saturday’s home game against Cass um I’m just looking at it now I believe it’s free um it’s the gates will open at 9:45 via the southand turn Styles uh and yes it is free 10:00 a.m. it starts and last for one an hour so if you want to watch an open training session during halterm something for you to do and another bit of news that came out last week is the the man the legend that is Kevin sinfield will again be doing another fundraising challenge uh he is again doing uh a weekl long challenge uh in support of Rob and the M andd Community um is there anything this man can’t do Chris um no to be honest it sort of sprung on me that I didn’t realized he were planning on doing another one and I just saw it on Twitter I didn’t actually see it on yeah he’s he’s always said after the last one what I don’t know what we’ll do next I’m not sure if we will do another one but I think we know that Kev will never ever stop but he is again doing um a return of the seven in seven in seven um and I think the locations again are slightly different so I think the there’s Liverpool to rexen there’s Gloucester to Bristol they’re going to do one in uh Belfast then going another one in Hull um and then they’re doing a again another one um at Al Trafford uh or starting outside Al Trafford as well and also doing one in Northampton and Leicester as well so taking it to new places but also in places that mean important for M andd obviously I know there’s the gentleman uh called Craig in Hull and obviously Ed Slater who’s a former Leicester player as well so um I can’t I can do a 10 K and that’s about it I can do a 10 meter 10 meter I think I think it’s a good idea for him to take it to different places I know people I don’t think he’s coming to leads is he he’s not this time but you you know I think I think you’re right you’ve got to S spread it about a bit but my wife she says he needs to pack it in said he’s uh he’s he’s ruining himself but I’m like he not going to stop is it he’ll never he’ll never stop for his mate he’ll never stop for his mate um so keep a lookout for that that’s happening in December so if you want to go support Kev and the r m andd community that would be the perfect one to do and then a couple of bits of team news before we go into the prediction or the preview of the Saints game um we got confirmation that Morgan Ganon will be missing the remainder of 2024 um it feels like this is the right decision Chris yeah we’ve got to look after him aren’t they and I think we forget how young he is yeah I mean he’s still he’s still 20y you know I think it’s so hard to remember how young he is because he’s been in a first team for what nearly four years now yeah I think it’s his fourth season I think his health comes first and even though he’s saying that he’s got no symptoms I think look just give him the year off he’s got a bit of work to do anyway I think he’s set himself to sort of get a bit bigger his frame yeah and I think he can he can take time to do that um I don’t think well I don’t know but I don’t think we should overly Panic thinking it’s a Stevie World type thing because Stevie was had a lot of symptoms didn’t he yeah I think I think the club are just being very sensible very careful to a young lad you know we’ve seen you know Jack Walker he started at 17 all the injuries that they’ve had you know we’ve seen Riley Lum young player get an injury you know concussions we know can’t be messed about with um we’ve got dep at second row as well so I think that gives it gives us the opportunity that for us not to worry but ganon’s Health must come first I am gutted for him because obviously we spoke to him at the media day at the beginning of the season and he you know the size of him for the the age of he is and how young he is he was ready and raring to go and he looked great in that preseason friendly against KR um but it is the right thing to it is the right thing to let him recover and hopefully he’ll be back and raring to go in 2025 it’s almost like a new signing for next year is it if he’s oh yeah yeah just you know most important thing is his health so I think just let him let him yeah get through those issues yeah as Rowan said he has a long career ahead of him um speaking of injuries um we have signed a player to cover some injuries so it was announced last week that the Rhinos had signed Scottish International Winger Matty Russell on loan from Warrington um Matty Russell’s now 30 that surprised me I thought he was a bit older than that to be honest um but he will be staying with us until at least the 11th of July which is prior to the game against uh Warrington um experienced player you 151 tries in 212 games um and it’s sort of been brought about because obviously the injury to fussy Tua the injury to to Riley Lum um Chris what was your thoughts on the the neat that’s two-part question really the need to bring someone in on in on loan and then the second question being be Mat Matty Russell I think they’re doing the right thing bringing someone in I think it’s okay saying throw the kids in but we’ve seen R do his armstr string Alf edel’s not a Winger um and the the other guys you Jack Smith they’re just really young out there so you’ve got to sort of counterbalance throw the kids in fine but you could that’s if there’s somebody available I don’t see the with bringing someone in it’s not it’s not going to hamper their their career they’re only young they’re young kids and I think I think if Riley L man have injured himself I don’t mean injured himself but got injured if you know what I mean yeah yeah I think he’d he’d have nailed that Wing Spot for the rest of the year but he did and it just shows that it’s a big step up for them for kids so do you think if Riley Lumen got injured do you think the signing would have even happened I don’t think it would no I don’t think would have needed to like you say I think if I think for me I think one thing I will say is there was quite a lot of stuff about the fact it was Matty Russell and stuff and I think whether you whatever your opinion is it is or not when he wears blue and Amber respect him because he’ll put 100% in will mat Russell hopefully so um he a he is a 100% player I’ve always quite Abed him he’s um he’ll he’ll he takes it from backline 100 m hour um and we sort of missing that a bit aren we I think it’s fine if You’ have said we’ve signed Marty Russell as his new Winger for next year yeah that’s a that’s a different message isn’t it but I think you’re right in terms of you know all it takes as one more injury to Alfie edgel Ned McCormack I think Jack Smith’s nursing an injury at the moment we don’t have any depth after that so you know I think I think the right thing to do was to bring someone in I heard rumors of fuid yaha which I think personally I would have preferred but I’ve got I’ve got no personal issue with Matty Matty coming in and you know I think he will probably start next week but I think it was the right thing to bring summon in on the short term to give us that cover um and if he doesn’t perform the kids can play and he can be the cover if he performs fantastic yeah and um he’s got a good try scoring ratio 151 tries in 212 my quick maths which is not very quick at all um that roughly sounds like a try every three two three games yeah but it’s more the power which brings the ball back which is what we’re missing with buy Tua be out I’ve got a feeling it’ll end up being for year I think we’ll keep it for full year only because I’ve heard rumors of a bus upt oh at Warrington oh right okay um well let’s wait and see but obviously yeah Matty Russell has joined us until the 11th of July and which brings us nicely in to the preview for Friday night’s game we are recording this on Thursday so this is to the game is tomorrow um a couple of uh news for the Rhino Squad obviously it’s great to see that Harry Newman and Brody Croft are returning to that 21 new signing mat Russell is in that 21 as well with Riley lman fussy to have been out we are still without the likes of movi Donaldson Hy Bentley and obviously Ganon that we spoke about earlier and then in a saint team news um they have one player returning as well they’ve got Agnus passi that’s coming back so he’s been named in the 21 um but they are without Morgan nolles um they’re without Matt Whitley H and obviously they’re also without leeds’s Nemesis which is Alex Warmsley because he always seems to get about 300 meters when he players against us from there so I consider that good news from there so just we’ll talk about Saints briefly first um Chris because the there’s bit simar between Saints and Le at the moment is there’s fans don’t seem to be getting on or the majority of fans or there’s Rumblings of fans not getting on with coaches on either side you know Saints sit second in the table uh at the moment which is quite bizarre consider that people are not necessarily appreciating Paul wellin um what do you think the losses of moles and Whitley will be massive for the Saints um Whitley has not been going very well to be perfectly honest from what I’ve seen I thought the start of season he was phenomenal at the start of the season when I when I watched him I think but I to be honest that the they’ they’ve racked up some big points against the lower sides at the even against us if you want to class us as a last but even we are at a moment they um they’ve not they’ve not wrapped up any points if if we can get some points against them they haven’t been that good I can sort of see I mean I don’t agree with them but I can sort of see why some St Ellens fans are grumbling because don’t look like St Ellens of old they’re yeah a bit predictable um they’re quite slow ain’t got a lot of pace um and they’re saying it’s just boring to watch so the game sounds it sounds familiar that Chris exactly exactly it’s two teams where the fans think they’ve got the same issues yeah honest so it’s gonna be a classic then um well to be fair the first the game that we played at heading L not the challenge cup was a great game yeah though rounds five or six I think I want to say but you know Saints are in terms of Defense I think Saints are great in defense I think I haven’t got the stats up now but when I last looked you know they were conceding the least amount of meters per game you know so they they do they are strong Defenders they play in the right areas of the pitch obviously that that’s worked from the majority of the season apart from obviously chaos when they got absolute stuffed um so I suppose my question to you now Chris is how big is it for Le to be having Newman and Croft returning into outside massive we saw it against catalog what we miss with crof not being there so um I’m not as pessimistic about tomorrow as some people I think I think you shot me Chris I think I don’t or even if we don’t I don’t think it’s going to be a batter in I don’t I’ve seen nothing in Saints other than when they’ve been playing London and Cass that they’ve got that ruthless streak that they used to have could be totally wrong but um I think it’ll be a close game either way um I think the the people have got out quite big misses for him um but they haven’t been in great form like Morgan Noles yeah hasn’t been great and I don’t think Whitley’s been great recently but they’re still players aren they yeah and I think you know I think Newman coming back is really important because that backline did look was looking depleted and you know we we had to play a very young backline uh away at Catalan and even though Newman’s still young obviously he brings that uh experience with him uh and that quite frankly that quality and you know crof coming back as well he just massive for us you know we can he’s not lit the world Al light but he’s still got what 12 assists in 10 games he was top of the assist chart until they a week you know so it’s it’s massive to have him back so let’s talk about selection for the Rhinos then Chris cuz I put a couple of tweets out um in terms of polls and I’ll take you through I’m going to ask you the question and we’ll go through the poll results but I think the biggest question in terms of the lineup for rhinos on Friday night is who starts at 7 um is it fry or is it sinfield if you’re Rowan Smith what call do you make I’m really 50/50 on this one I think he’ll go fry what would you do I’d like to think I’d be brave enough to go simfield yeah but Saints are a a side that will spot defensive weakness I think and just Hammer him I can see why he might pick folley cuz he defensively all right is he he’s a big bigger in body bigger in body um I personally would have got I would go for sinfield personally I think me too if if I were picking it because I I see him as our longterm seven and I think give him a go but I can also see why you might play a bit saf to First even though f is not really that good yeah if he does go with froley um he’ll only be agreeing with 15% of Rhino’s fans that took part in this poll 85% of the poll he surpris is that High um sinfield uh people 85% wanted sinfield to start at seven so let’s go on to the next question I’ve got for you Chris so um we’ve got Matty russellin obviously provides cover in that uh in that backline primarily on the wing we know hanley’s going to be on One Wing who would you have on the other Wing the two names that I had written down in this poll were Matty Russell and Lewis Roberts again I’ll ask you the question if you’re Rowan Smith who starts on the wing between Roberts and Russell 100% Russell yeah I agree I absolutely agree and we are agreeing with 85% again of people uh 85% said Russell would start the next one uh is more than if scenario but it kind of comes the back of both of our choices there we know Newman is back and we’re assuming that Newan will be starting in one of those Center spots um but the question is if Russell’s starting on the wing who plays at Center is it Roberts or reys Martin Roberts you’d go for Roberts yeah I what I think he’s a center and he’s looked more comfortable at Center yeah he mean look I know people are very are very critical of Roberts sometimes unfairly sometimes just defia um but I did think from when I was at Catalan he made some very good defensive reads and shut things down and he’s looked better at Center and I think obviously the advantage of playing Roberts at Center is that it moves Martin back into his natural position of second row um where we’ probably get more out of him at second row would you agree yeah and what rows tended to do if Rees Martin’s at Center is put a back on the bench think we should be doing that against saints I can I can understand if ree Martin’s in Center why you would do that because it gives you more options but I think Roberts is perfectly fine at Center I’d put him with Ash Hanley yeah leave um I think that’s quite a powerful right Edge then strong and then Newman with Newman with M Russell yeah Newman’s a better right center than he’s a left Center just how he uses his footwork coming back in field um and I think what that does then it means we don’t have to pay Gand as a start in second row can bench him and we can have a bit of a bigger bench so that so I I think to me i’ definitely just put Roberts as left Center so this wasn’t so yeah this wasn’t the tightest poll uh or result in a poll but it was very close and the majority actually agreed with us Chris 52% said that Roberts should be starting at Center instead of Martin and there was a couple of comments that came back on that very much on the lines of gets into back into the second row from there um the next poll I had was to do with props so obviously aledi uh is the one of the starting props but I asked the question who should start with him and there was three players that I uh put in this one Justin Sanger Tom Nicholson Waton and Sam lone so again you’re Rowan Smith Chris who are you starting at prop alongside Alki I’d consider goodand I don’t know oh so another name that I’ve not even put out there it’s just because if he shifted Martin back into second row I like he’s got high work rate now do you go massive on the bench I prefer I don’t think I don’t think lone or sangari should start so I’m pick up on that lone Point really quickly because he only got six% of the vote in this which I’m actually surprised it’s quite low in that sense cuz I know he’s he’s a liked player but I think that means from I’m interpreting that is that everyone’s on the same Pages he isn’t a starting prop is an impact prop only so I think everyone’s agreeing on that PR so it then comes down to between in my poll between Justin and Tom Nichol and what well i’ got go little Tom every day me but I don’t is it but I think there might be a case for starting quite Mobile in pack I don’t know seem as though they’ve got some CS out and we haven’t got proper starting props have we we we short of a starting prop I and whilst obviously they don’t have Alex Warmsley I I still think Saints have got a really strong back row you know you’ve still got sir and James Bell Joe Bachelor matala the the’re quite big second rows and you know they still got George Delaney and Matty Le uh in there as well um in the poll this was the closest one Justin Sanger was 46% of the vote and to Nicholson Waton was 47% of the vote so 47 just by a winning margin of 1% F that Tom Nicholson Waton should be starting and the final Poll for the lineup was that we’ve seen some rotation at Hooker recently obviously Jared started against Catalan he started against London um who would you start at Hooker akas or OK Conor Aus in this one I think what we need to do is we need to start like we did against them in the league game when we we came out on fire but what we to do is post some points while we’re doing it so yeah I don’t and I think that’s what he’ll want to do I don’t think he can easy way into a game against saints no absolutely not try and play as fast as you can in that first half so on that basis then our lineup that we’ve sort of decided and the polls have sort of decided would be obviously Miller at fullback Newman Roberts and Hanley uh and the finishing off the outside backs with Croft and sinfield the pack would be aledy Akers Tom Nicholson Waton McDonald Martin and cam Smith which probably then leaves the bench to be Sam M Justin sangar gamond and Jared o Conor so that that’s the lineup that we’ve sort of coming from there whether whether Rowan does that I don’t think he will I think I think sang will be starting and I just have a sneaky feeling that Matt Fry will be starting as well um one final question for you Chris before I ask you for your prediction and you can take on the role of delusional delusional Eddie when it comes to the prediction for the result um but the one question first is where is this game won or loss for leads what is the one thing that leads need to do if they’re going to come away with the two points be a bit be more clinical when we get chances that’s it we would have beaten them in that League game if first game yeah not if you get some points on Saints they’re not like I said before they’re they’re not great at scoring loads against more organized we just need to start fast and try and and I think they can do it it’s just um I’m glad WS is out I’m not glad he’s injured don’t play to be injured but it’s the game where he just monsters everyone yeah he he just seems to have a superhuman level against Leeds I don’t know why but I think I think for me the game will be win and lost I think for ter for me we’ve got to start playing in the right areas and that comes from better kicking it comes from the pack winning the battle in the middle for me as well so I’m going to say playing in the right areas Chris what’s your prediction in the result 1812 to leads 1812 to leads um I will stay pessimistic um and I’ll say it will be St Helen’s 20 rhinos 10 and from that bit Eddie will not be happy that I predicted a loss but he is not here so we can ridicu me on our next podcast which will be the match review panel which we will be recording on Saturday evening keep a look out for the player ratings tweet which I will put out I on Friday evening on Saturday morning which will help us choose our player ratings um Chris thanks for joining us this evening um have a great weekend everyone that’s heading over to Saints get there early and support the women and enjoy the weekend and we’ll see you all uh next week