Leeds Rhinos forward Cameron Smith will miss Saturday's clash with Leigh Leopards as a result of a calf injury sustained in pre-season. Rugby League Live has learned that the ball-playing forward has been nursing an injury in recent weeks which has resulted in him missing the weekend trip to Leigh Sports Village.
Smith was one of three notable absentees from the 21-man squad named to face the rebranded Leopards, with James Bentley and Rhyse Martin also left out having also missed the Boxing Day clash with Wakefield Trinity. It's now emerged that Smith, a star performer during last year's resurgence, has had an issue that has caused some disruption to his pre-season schedule.
The good news is that Smith is now thought to be back in training and on course to start the season. However, it was decided to leave him out this weekend with plenty of other games incoming. Leeds still have three pre-season games to play against Bradford Bulls, Hull KR and Hunslet, meaning there are plenty of opportunities for Smith to get minutes under the belt before the Super League opener with Warrington in a little under four weeks.
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Coach Rohan Smith will likely be quizzed on the absence of the aforementioned trio following Leeds' outing against Adrian Lam's side. There are already four injuries within the squad. Centres Harry Newman and Nene Macdonald are recovering from hamstring and quad injuries respectively while Mikolaj Oledzki is rehabbing after shoulder surgery. New fullback Luke Hooley also underwent ankle surgery after an injury picked up in pre-season training.
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