BRAD ARTHUR has insisted that the Odsal pitch will not change how Leeds Rhinos play against Bradford Bulls on Friday night.
The infamous smaller pitch at Odsal is known to make a significant difference with teams sometimes having to change their attacking structure to fit.
However, Arthur doesn’t want his Leeds side to change their philosophy and style.
“We are aware but we don’t want to change how we play. We know what works for us, we just need to be smart,” he said.
“A lot of teams are kicking out on the full, we are aware of it. We went to Vegas and the pitch was eight metres narrower too and we didn’t focus on that.
“We are aware of the pitch with kicking the ball.”
So what does Arthur expect from the Bulls?
“They are nice and physical out of the backfield and they will shift the ball five metres off their line.
“They are willing to change their arm a bit, their spine combines well. Andy Ackers has got good deception out of dummy-half.
“You can’t try to isolate someone too much, it’s about keeping our line intact.”
Having only beaten Warrington Wolves on Sunday, Arthur says he will need to shake up his plan a little without making wholesale changes.
“It’s a five-day turnaround so there will be a couple of adjustments to share the workload a bit,” Arthur continued.
“The middles did a really good job to start against Warrington in bad conditions but there will be a couple of variations to it.”