Rhinos meet in-form Red Devils at Headingley just a month after fiery clash in reverse fixture

Play-off chasing Leeds Rhinos welcome an in-form Salford Red Devils side to Emerald Headingley stadium on Friday evening looking to get back to winning ways in the second half of the Super League campaign.

Led by head coach Richard Agar, the Rhinos currently sit seventh in the table with 12 points and six wins from 13 games. They had recovered from a poor start to the campaign to pick up four consecutive victories, including a mightily impressive one away at Warrington Wolves, but most recently lost back-to-back games against table toppers Catalans Dragons.

Despite leading by a comfortable margin at half-time in both of those clashes with the Dragons, the French outfit prevailed 26-18 in Yorkshire and 27-18 over in Perpignan. Worryingly for Agar, on both occasions, his side were nullified in the second half and were unable to put points on the board to add to their advantage after the interval.

If the blue and amber army are to descend on Old Trafford in October for an 11^th Grand Final appearance, then the team will need to first finish the regular season in the top six and secure a play-off spot. Though a win against Salford wouldn’t see them into those placings by virtue of the win percentage system, a loss could be detrimental to their season.

As for the visitors, this campaign had been bleak for Richard Marshall’s men until recently with just one win in their opening nine league games, that against bottom of the table Leigh Centurions. However, three wins in their last four outings have seemingly steered the Red Devils away from any minor threat of relegation.

Buoyed by a 24-14 win against Wakefield Trinity in their previous game, Salford will go into Friday’s clash ninth with eight points from 13 games. Admittedly, Marshall’s side would have to pull off some performances in the latter stages of this campaign to qualify for the play-offs, but the pressure is now off them which may work in their favour, not just at Emerald Headingley but in the weeks to come.

Squads

This the first game that either side will have played without restrictions on capacity since March 2020, Headingley is expected to be bouncing and the passionate home support will be encouraged by the inclusion of a trio of players in the 21-man squad for the game.

Ash Handley and Mikolaj Oledzki return to the team in having been in isolation courtesy of positive COVID-19 tests within their households while goal-kicker Rhyse Martin is named by boss Agar after completing a one-match suspension. Youngsters Corey Hall, Liam Tindall and Morgan Gannon are the three players to lose their spots in the squad from last week’s trip over to France.

Hall is currently out on loan at Championship side York City Knights, forming part of a long-list of players who are unavailable for Leeds going into the meeting with Salford. Notably, big man Rob Lui will be absent for a while having suffered a hamstring injury in the aforementioned victory at Warrington a few weeks ago.

In the opposition camp, boss Marshall will be satisfied to be able to name a 21-man squad this week given that only 19 were available for selection in that win over Wakefield. Of those involved in the previous run-out, only prop Josh Johnson loses his place to club captain Lee Mossop.

32-year-old Mossop is returning to the squad following a lengthy suspension picked up from last month’s reverse fixture with the Rhinos, joined by both Dan Sarginson and Jack Wells who are also named to make up a full complement of 21 for the trip up the M62.

Head-to-Head

A hugely successful rugby league club historically, it’s no surprise that Leeds have the better record in meetings of these two clubs, and that shows in more recent times too with the Rhinos unbeaten in four against Salford, including a narrow 17-16 victory in the Challenge cup final at Wembley last year.

Most recently, Agar’s side were victorious by a comfortable scoreline of 12-38 in the previously mentioned reverse fixture at the AJ Bell stadium last month as Jack Broadbent and Richie Myler both got themselves over the line twice. That game however was blighted by ill-discipline from both sides throughout.

Salford’s Mossop was shown a straight red card early on as he knocked an onrushing Konrad Hurrell out cold with a punch, while Leeds’ Bodene Thompson also received his marching orders for his part in the fracas which followed involving near enough every player left on the pitch.

Then, a scuffle broke out off the ball in the second half involving Luke Gale of the Rhinos and Ryan Lannon of the Red Devils. Both received yellow cards and 10 minutes in the sin bin, but it had appeared as though Gale and teammate Myler – who ran into the melee which inevitably ensued – had thrown punches, but referee Robert Hicks didn’t take any action.

For Salford’s last win against Leeds, you have to go back to September 2019 when they triumphed 12-20. None of the try scorers on that occasion are still with the Red Devils at present, though Kristian Inu earned eight of those points through successful conversions in a campaign that saw the Red Devils go on to qualify for their first ever Grand Final.

This week, it will be the home side who go into the clash as the favourites, but if Salford fans are looking for an omen prior to kick-off, that Salford victory also came on a Friday night under the lights at Emerald Headingley, so never say never.

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