Stevie Ward will be out of action indefinitely after continued problems with a concussion.
The Leeds Rhinos captain suffered a delayed concussion after their round 1 defeat to Hull FC and has been struggling with dizziness and blurred vision ever since.
“We’ll stand him down indefinitely until we get more medical checks,” said Rhinos head coach Richard Agar.
“He’s failed his return to play protocols for three weeks. We had him over to see Hiren Patel at Manchester who is the concussion expert of the Rugby League and RFU in the North of England.
“Hiren set Stevie some strict guidelines and protocols about how to manage himself over the seven to ten-day period.
“Stevie got through a fair bit of that feeling good, but as soon as exercise started again that’s when dizzy spells and blurred vision started again.
“Without a doubt that’s a concern for us now, we’re sending him down to London to almost take him up a level if we can so the tests will be deep cognitive tests, it will be around hearing, vision, he’ll have an MRI scan on his brain, to get a little bit deeper information because after three weeks to still be showing the symptoms is a concern.”
