Croft back in Australia still no Oledzki
Handley and Smith back.
Leeds Rhinos' 21-man Magic Weekend squad: Lachie Miller, David Fusitu'a, harry Newman, Paul Momirovski, Ash Handley, Matt Frawley, Andy Ackers, James Bentley, Rhyse Martin, Cameron Smith, Jarrod O'Connor, Sam Lisone, James McDonnell, Justin Sangare, Mickael Goudemand, Jack Sinfield, James Donaldson, Corey Johnson, Alfie Edgell, Tom Nicholson-Watton, Ben Littlewood

Miller
Fusitua
Momirosvki
Newman
Handley/Edgell
Frawley
Sinfield
Lisone
Ackers
Sangare
macdonnell
Martin
Smith

Oconner
Bentley
Goudemand
Littlewood/Donaldson

Hmm. Losing Croft means a lot less speed up the middle. Be very interesting to see how the attack goes without him. On the plus side, a chance for Sinfield to play in a big game. We need to see signs he might be one of the halfbacks longer term.

Interested to understand the thinking of Goudemand Christopher. I'd rather Donaldson of the two. No idea waht Goudemand offers really, and I think we need Littlewood's size on the bench.

TNW has to be in the 17 the front row is so light

Sorry I should have said that’s what I think Arthur will go with.


Personally id have TNW and Littlewood in for both Donaldson and Goudemand

Going to be interesting to see how Cam Smith plays in this one. It may be tempting for him to be more involved in playmaking if Croft is missing?

Really interesting to see how Sinny goes. He needs to come in and try and nail one of these opportunities against a decent team. Last time out against Wire he wasn't great in defence so will be interested to see how he (and the team) have learned from that.

If Handley is fit i would play Edgell on the other wing. Fusitua has done nothing to warrant his place over Edgell since is return. I think Arthur will go with experience though and keep Fusitua in.
Hopefully if given the chance Sinfield can deliver as we have little to no cover at halfback except for him

Good for Sinfield to get a chance. Although wouldn't have minded seeing Edgell at FB with Miller at stand off.

Personally, I would have Smith starting on the bench.

I've seen a few mention Littlewood's size. He looks tall but very lightweight for me, needs to bulk up as he develops physically.

I thought the same. Big frame, but not yet a big lad.

Hopefully some of the younger lads will get a game/ game time.

I think (and I'm hoping) you've got Arthur confused for Rohan smith

Arthur was singing Donaldson's praises in an interview this week and it sounded like he wanted him in the team for Saturday

I could see him replacing littlwood but I hope TNW keeps his spot over Goudemand

I`d like to see Sinfield in the halves but what about Johnson there for his defence?

Will Sinfield's defence be as exposed if the line is moving forward though? He's bound to look worse if he's stood still when forwards run at him, but he also needs to step up.

We really need to see what he's capable of. If he shows good signs then great, but right now he's as likely to be the next Jordan Lilley as he is a success. At some stage the club needs to work out whether to stick or twist, and we'll only find out if he actually plays.

To be fair, several coaches have complimented Donaldson on multiple occasions - Agar, Smith and Arthur.

As fans who've watched this squad over this season and multiple seasons, we've probably got a more set view of players than Arthur does. That's the advantage and disadvantage of a new coach mid-way through the season. It's a clean slate for the players, and Arthur only has the most recent games he's watched as well as training to see what they players look like. Donaldson by all accounts is an excellent trainer, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him pick Donno and Goudemand for their experience over the younger players.

After my optimism before the Wigan game last week, I think this will be one step forward and two back this week. Hopefully not, but that is my feeling particularly with the loss of Croft. In terms of the team, I'd have Cam at 6, to leave the pack as it was last week, keeping the excellent O'Connor at 13. Donno has to come in for Ben on the bench and Ash will play instead of Edgill if fit.

Not sure about Cam Smith at 6 after his recent form. I'd like to see him play rugby (driving the ball in, occasionally off-loading) not showcasing his 'footballing' skills as some Aussie pundits like to describe it. More like the guy in my avatar please!

Agree on the likely result. Wire (currently) are a much stronger side that the Pies last week. I don't expect us to win, but I will be very encouraged if we compete for the 80 mins. Do that and anything is possible.

Results almost irrelevant, little chance of plays offs, performance is key we need to back up last week and be there abouts ( i hope we do win) think we have gifted Warrington 2 easy wins thus season and flattered them, hopefully win or lose we take it to them.

Little chance of playoffs ? We win tomorrow and Cats lose we have a great chance of making the six. Cats at home next week a win we go to play off spot ?

Lots of Ifs there, its not unachievable to make the play offs but we probably can only afford to lose one more game.

I still can’t believe that some Leeds fans are happy to “compete” or “put in a performance” when we need to win a game for a measly 6th place play off spot. Can you imagine the same rhetoric in February after signing 3 players from the NRL, the Superleague Man Of Steel and pinching a top hooker from another club ? Everybody’s different, but I think some Leeds fans have become conditioned to accepting not even second best but the possibility of better times in the future. How the mighty have fallen.