Leeds Rhinos v Huddersfield Giants: Super League preview
Last Updated: 27/02/15 7:49pm
Kylie Leuluai is available for Leeds as they host Huddersfield in Thursday night's Super League encounter.
Leuluai is available again for Leeds having missed his team's victory over Vikings two weeks ago due to illness, while Huddersfield hooker Luke Robinson has been forced into taking a week off to rejuvenate only a few weeks into the competition.
Robinson has been a stalwart of the Giants side after moving there from former club Salford, and the hooker has missed only five games in the last two seasons. Kyle Wood takes Robinson's jersey after recovering from major knee surgery while Chris Bailey makes way for the return of Michael Lawrence.
Alongside Scott Grix, both Wood and Lawrence played for Oldham in a pre-season friendly at Barrow on Sunday to gain much-needed match fitness after missing the first two rounds of Super League earlier in the year. Grix is being kept out of the Huddersfield team by 20-year-old Jake Connor, who retains his place after a successful showing in his team's 24-16 defeat at Wigan in the last round of competition.
It's been seven matches and over three years since Leeds last beat their local rivals Huddersfield Giants, something that is not lost on new recruit Adam Cuthbertson. The 29-year-old only arrived at Headingley from Newcastle Knights during the off-season and is looking forward to rectifying that record, while maintaining the Rhinos' impressive opening form in this year's Super Leagu.
"The Giants are a local rival," said Cutherbertson, "we have won two from two and they haven't won yet so they will be gunning for us and we want to keep our early momentum.
"We want to start well so that when the league splits we are not scrapping to get into the top eight," he added.
Leeds: 1 Zak Hardaker, 2 Tom Briscoe, 3 Kallum Watkins, 4 Joel Moon, 5 Ryan Hall, 6 Danny McGuire, 7 Rob Burrow, 8 Kylie Leuluai, 9 Paul Aiton, 10 Jamie Peacock, 11 Jamie Jones-Buchanan, 12 Carl Ablett, 13 Kevin Sinfield (c), 14 Stevie Ward, 16 Mitch Achurch, 17 Adam Cuthbertson, 18 Liam Sutcliffe, 19 Brad Singleton, 21 Josh Walters.
Huddersfield: 2 Jermaine McGillvary, 3 Leroy Cudjoe, 4 Joe Wardle, 5 Aaron Murphy, 6 Danny Brough (c), 8 Eorl Crabtree, 9 Shaun Lunt, 10 Craig Huby, 11 Brett Ferres, 12 Jack Hughes, 13 Chris Bailey, 14 Michael Lawrence, 15 Craig Kopczak, 16 Kyle Wood, 17 Ukuma Ta'ai, 18 Jodie Broughton, 19 Anthony Mullally, 20 Jamie Ellis, 22 Jake Connor.
Watch Leeds Rhinos v Huddersfield Giants live on Sky Sports 3 on Thursday from 7.30pm.
