Leeds Rhinos could be without Ash Handley for up to six weeks, Rohan Smith has revealed. Handley suffered an ankle injury in last week's victory over Wakefield Trinity and the Rhinos expect the winger to be missing for a prolonged period of time.
It could be late-April before Leeds fans see Handley on the field again, with Smith admitting it was a major blow to lose Handley, who has started the season as one of the Rhinos' most consistent performers.
"Ash has a lateral ankle ligament injury, which is not great but it's not the worst it could have been," Smith said. "He's looking at four to six weeks. Ash has been playing well, and he's been a real quality leader and a real part of how we've endeavoured to play our footy at the back end of last year. He's really a key part of our team for sure."
Read more: Key Leeds Rhinos duo return for Castleford clash but Ash Handley misses out
Handley has been deputising at centre at the start of the season, and Smith hinted that his injury could open the door for Harry Newman to make a first start of 2023, after an eye-catching cameo from the interchange bench against Wakefield last week.
Newman got through his comeback fixture unscathed, and could now be set to come in from the start on Thursday evening against Castleford Tigers.
"Newman is there and ready to go, so he'll play a bigger role this week for sure," Smith said.
"He's pulled up fine, as he should after a 25-minute hit-out. We're following the strength and conditioning principles of progressive overload and building up his demand on the field. There's a lot of work he can get done away from the game but there's nothing like game-day exertion. He's a unique character to building that up progressively will be a priority."
Smith also confirmed that hooker Kruise Leeming is set to return after making good progress from a foot injury. Justin Sangare will also come in after missing last week's win over Wakefield due to the birth of his first child.
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