Rhinos are backing up just five days after their injury-hit side. Condensed to 12 men for 35 minutes – dug deep to push St Helens in a hard-fought Challenge Cup tie.
Agar was proud of that action; still, Leads miss at least ten members of their first team, though the anticipation is against them again.
The instructor still claims he has complete confidence in the players. Who will play infield and has challenged them to develop a similar effort this evening against a team. They have not crushed in the league since 2017
Agar said.
“We don’t want to be gallant losers, but in the context of where we were at, our effort last weekend was magnificent. And we defended hard – and we conceded two tries with 12 men.
“Emotionally, physically, and mentally, we’ve got to recover, recharge and get ready to do the same again this week.”
The short turnaround makes it even more challenging, but Agar stressed: “That’s the challenge.”
He said:
“We haven’t got a couple of results, but I have much faith in the guys. Who are in our squad at this moment in time.
“They know what it’s all about, they know where we are at, really care about the jersey. And I know they will be doing their utmost.”
Kyle Eastmond, the former St Helens back joined Rhinos last month after a decade in rugby union, will debut today.
Agar confessed to the game five days ago.
“There were parts of our performances that weren’t as clean and as smooth as they needed to be,”
“Certainly, our last plays needed to be better, but I challenge anybody to play without a kicker and come up with a blue-chip kicking game – and I thought our players during the week bought into our plan.
“We thought we’d have to win a low-scoring, tight game, and they bought into it, and it gave us a chance of pulling off an excellent victory.”
Wigan is a strong team as they have started up the year with three consecutive victories.
They also won games against Leeds in Betfred Super League, but when these teams faced each other last time in the 2020 challenge cup semi-final, Rhinos came out.
Agar said of tonight’s visitors
“They’ve not been without some injury problems too,”
“They have got good players; Jackson Hastings is a strong influence for them, and their back-rowers are probably the best two in the competition.
“They are a good side, and they are always a tough team, but it’s a good challenge for us and one we are looking forward to more victories.
“We have got big respect for the opposition, but at this stage, we will be concentrating on playing to our strengths.”
Meanwhile, Agar said the club is analyzing, appealing Zane Tetevano’s four-match ban.
An independent disciplinary tribunal suspended the kiwi on Tuesday after being found guilty of a Grade D striking charge.
Leeds challenged the ‘D’ grading, which comes with the utmost five-game tariff,
and Agar said:
“We’re disappointed. We’ve looked at several similar tackles, and I know every kid is different.
“We understand the legislation around hitting ball-players late and at times in the back and creating whiplash injuries when the players relaxed…
“We get that which is why we pleaded guilty. But we’re hugely disappointed with the grading and the findings.
“I look forward to every similar tackle being dealt with the same vigor this year, although I’m not sure, at the moment, from the clips we’ve seen and the number of tackles we’ve seen cautioned and Grade As, that a severity of a Grade D matched up with those.”