Leeds Rhinos v Warrington Wolves: Super 8s preview
Last Updated: 07/08/15 7:42pm
Warrington prop Ashton Sims admits the arrival of Chris Sandow has given the Wolves a huge lift going into Friday’s Super 8s opener against Leeds Rhinos.
The 26-year-old half-back was unveiled at the Halliwell Jones Stadium earlier this week and is set to make his Super League debut at Headingley.
Warrington head into the second stage of the season sat sixth, four points adrift of the final play-off spot, currently occupied by Huddersfield.
The Wolves' situation means former Parramatta Eels scrum-half Sandow needs to hit the ground running, and Sims expects his compatriot to do just that.
"He's definitely a big X factor," said Sims. "That's what he was back home; I can't see him being any different over here.
"We're not just going to sign him and let him do it all on his own. We have to learn to play with him and the quicker we do that the better we will be as a team.
"He's been a really good player for a long time. Playing against him, he's beaten us on a few occasions at Souths and at Parra so I'm glad he's on my team.”
It is not just a new start for Sandow, who publicly fell out with the Eels before being granted an early release from his contract, but for clubs across the Super 8s.
Sims expects the intensity to increase in the top eight as the race to Old Trafford hots up.
He added: "I think it's pretty cool and really different. We're going to see the standard of rugby really lift now.
“It's more cut-throat now; nobody wants to be outside that top four by the end of the Super 8s."
While Sandow is a welcome inclusion in Warrington’s 19-man squad, they are without Ryan Atkins (dead leg), Ben Harrison (concussion) and Gene Ormsby (broken jaw).
Table-toppers Leeds are minus Jamie Jones-Buchanan after he suffered a serious quad injury during the last-four win over St Helens, which could mean a recall for prop Brad Singleton.
Mitch Achurch (wrist), Stevie Ward (ankle) and Liam Sutcliffe (knee) are the Rhinos' other injury absentees.
Leeds Rhinos: Carl Ablett, Paul Aiton, Tom Briscoe, Rob Burrow, Adam Cuthbertson, Brett Delaney, Mitch Garbutt, Ryan Hall, Ash Handley, Zak Hardaker, Jimmy Keinhorst, Kylie Leuluai, Danny McGuire, Joel Moon, Jamie Peacock, Kevin Sinfield, Brad Singleton, Josh Walters, Kallum Watkins.
Warrington Wolves: Roy Asotasi, Daryl Clark, Ben Currie, Brad Dwyer, Anthony England, Rhys Evans, Chris Hill, George King, Toby King, Joel Monaghan, Richie Myler, Gareth O’Brien, Kevin Penny, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Chris Sandow, Ashton Sims, Gary Wheeler, Sam Wilde.
Watch Leeds v Warrington live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Friday from 7.30pm
