James Bentley and Harry Newman are closing in on their returns to the Leeds Rhinos side - with Rohan Smith admitting it is possible, though not certain, the duo could feature as early as next week's clash versus reigning champions St Helens.
Smith admitted Bentley and Newman's recoveries from respective knee and hamstring problems were progressing well, saying that the pair were a 'possibility, rather than a probability' to feature against Paul Wellens' side next weekend. Smith said the pair were 'progressing well' alongside prop Mikolaj Oledzki - but the England international is further behind Bentley and Newman in his own recuperation from a shoulder injury.
When asked how soon Bentley and Newman could return, he said: "Hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Both their injuries are a bit of out the ordinary so it's a little hard to tell. We'll make sure they do full team training when they're back. They've not done a lot of that to this point."
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When pushed on whether they could play against St Helens, Smith added: "Next week would be a possibility rather than a probability."
Leeds will be boosted by the return of new signing Nene Macdonald for Friday's game against Hull FC, but Smith was cryptic about whether the Papua New Guinea international could feature in the centres, where he was a regular at Leigh last season, or on the wing.
The Rhinos used David Fusitu'a and Ash Handley in the centres last week but Smith hinted that pairing could continue against Hull this weekend.
"You're assuming he's going to play centre if he plays," Smith said. "I see him as a centre or a winger. The guys that played centre last week did a decent job. A lot of the skills he has apply equally as well to whether he plays centre or wing. He's played mostly as a winger in his NRL career and he's also played fullback as a younger player. He played at Leigh last year in the centres but if he'd played on the wing he'd have had a big year too."
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