Leeds Rhinos will be without a staggering 13 players for Friday night’s trip to Wigan.
The Rhinos, who face a Challenge Cup semi-final with Hull FC next weekend, have left out over a dozen senior players with injuries biting ahead of the trip to the DW Stadium.
In a much-changed squad, Brian McDermott – who saw Leeds solidify second spot ahead of the Super 8s last weekend – is without hundreds of games’ worth of experience.
England internationals Kallum Watkins (knee) and Ryan Hall (concussion) are out. Stevie Ward also misses out with a concussion check of his own.
Leeds already know Keith Galloway’s season is over due to an Achilles problem, and there will be more key forwards missing on Friday night. Brad Singleton (calf), Adam Cuthbertson (knee), Brett Delaney (knees), Josh Walters (knee) and Brett Ferres (knee) are all out as well.
Rhinos skipper Danny McGuire suffered a hamstring injury in the win over Hull FC and he joins Rob Burrow (shoulder), Ash Handley (knee) and Liam Sutcliffe (hamstring) on the sidelines.
All this means recalls for a number of young players. Cameron Smith and Mikolaj Oledzki are back from Bradford, while 17-year-old centre Harry Newman and Under 19s hooker Harvey Whiteley have been called up for their debuts whilst second row Alex Sutcliffe, who has been 18th man for three games this season could also make his debut.
Leeds squad: Golding, Briscoe, Moon, Parcell, Jones-Buchanan, Ablett, Garbutt, Keinhorst, Mullally, Ormondroyd, Baldwinson, Lilley, Smith, Oledzki, Jordan-Roberts, Walker, A Sutcliffe, Newman, Whiteley.
