BRAD ARTHUR is happy to keep Jake Connor guessing over his role with Leeds.
The versatile back, who moved from Huddersfield in the off-season, scored two tries in his first appearance in blue and amber against Wakefield on Boxing Day.
That came at fullback, with Lachlan Miller sidelined by a serious hamstring injury and Alfie Edgell ruled out with a fractured jaw.
“He (Connor) can play anywhere but I’m quite happy keeping him on his toes at the moment and not knowing what’s going to happen,” said coach Arthur after the pre-season game, which Leeds won 18-16.
“I want to keep that hunger in him and keep him working hard. He did some good things today, no doubt.
“But at the moment Lachie should be our starting fullback in round one.”
Miller is battling to be fit for their Super League opener – also at home to Wakefield, on February 15 – after sustaining an injury while back home in Australia during the off-season.
Edgell, who was back-up to first-choice fullback Miller last season as well as playing on the wing, suffered his jaw injury in training in the lead-up to Boxing Day and will miss the start of the season.
Arthur said of the 20-year-old: “He’s had his op and he looks pretty good. We’re just waiting now. It could be eight or ten weeks.
“He’d trained so well. We’d seen some massive improvements in him. He was the guy we were most looking forward to seeing today because he would have started at fullback.
“He’d done a really good job in pre-season working on some areas of his game. It’ll probably make him a bit stronger now, dealing with the disappointment.”
Leeds have a fresh concern over hooker Jarrod O’Connor, who came off against Wakefield with a knee injury.
“They are thinking it’s maybe his MCL (medial collateral ligament), but it’s early days so we don’t want to jump the gun,” said Arthur.
