Rohan Smith has shrugged off any suggestion Zane Tetevano's future at Leeds could be under threat following his latest bout of ill-discipline. Tetevano will face a Rugby Football League tribunal hearing on Tuesday after being charged with another serious incident, this time in the Rhinos' defeat to St Helens last week.
Tetevano was hit with a Grade D striking charge for the tackle on Konrad Hurrell which saw him receive a straight red card. It means he could be banned for between three and five matches, the latest in a growing line of disciplinary issues Tetevano has been involved in since joining Leeds.
But Smith knocked back any talk the latest disciplinary challenge could throw doubt over Tetevano's Leeds future. When asked if his future at the club was under threat, Smith said: "Zane is contracted, and some things like this happen in a combat sport."
Read more: Zane Tetevano troubles leave Leeds Rhinos handling a seemingly unfixable issue
Smith also said he had been pleased with Tetevano's on-field impact since he joined the club, adding: "This is the first incident in my time with Zane, so I can only speak for myself here.
"It was a state of the game where there wasn't a need for any real aggression in that moment so it's a game management situation but I feel like he's been in control and played good steady rugby in the period of time since he's been."
Leeds will appeal Harry Newman's two-match ban this evening, with Smith admitting Leeds are yet to decide whether to simply appeal the grading in a bid to get the ban halved, or appeal for the ban to be fully rescinded altogether.
Newman was charged with aggressive behaviour towards a match official for his actions in the closing stages of the defeat at St Helens, but Smith said the Rhinos have been consulting with 'well-respected people' in the sport to ascertain how much of a case they have.
"We've been spending some time this morning looking at some other situations of similar nature and getting some advice from some well-respected people around the game," Smith said.
"We're looking to see where it goes. We're still working through what we're aiming to do. We've got a bit of time before we have to enter a plea as such, so we're still sorting through it."
Ash Handley suffered an ankle injury last week, and Leeds will wait until he rejoins training on Thursday before making a final call on whether he is fit enough to feature against Hull FC this Saturday. "He's in the mix still, but we won't know until later in the week," Smith said of the winger.
