Magic Weekend kicks off on Saturday at Newcastle's St James' Park, with the Rhinos clashing with Castleford at 6pm live on Sky Sports.

Before both teams take to the field, here are a handful of talking points ahead of the game…

Returnees for Rhinos, one change for Tigers

After suffering injuries to trio Harry Newman, Morgan Gannon and Aidan Sezer, Rhinos fans will be relieved to see players back available for the trip to the North East. Blake Austin headlines the returnees; the club's top try assister this year comes back into the fold since the league win over Wigan, plus James Bentley is back after completing his concussion protocol. Smith has also continued to give youth a chance as Leon Ruan is included for a second successive week in the 21-player squad and Alfie Edgell, who was part of the Rhinos Academy's Grand Final winning side last year, could make his club and Super League debut.

For Castleford, head coach Last has only brought back Jason Qareqare from his loan stint with Bradford to fill for former Rhino Alex Sutcliffe. Paul McShane, Alex Mellor, Jack Broadbent and Muizz Mustapha could face their former club too; Mellor made one of his first appearances in a Castleford shirt against Leeds at Magic Weekend last year.

Offload leaders

Leeds and Castleford got out of the gates quickly as they've looked to establish their offload game this year.

Both clubs are leading the league in offloads this year (Leeds have 138 and Cas have 125), with the Rhinos averaging 10.6 a game. In comparison, the Tigers have a marginally better success rate (95%) but offload during less of their ball carries compared to Leeds.

Focusing on individual players, Harry Newman leads the Rhinos in offloads with 24, compared with Castleford's leader Joe Westerman who has 23. Bureta Faraimo (13) and Rhyse Martin (14) are just behind, whilst Cameron Smith and Blake Austin are also in double digits for offloads this year.

Magic rivalry reignited

Magic Weekend gives both Leeds and Castleford fans a chance to reignite the Yorkshire rivalry at St James' Park. Specifically at Magic Weekend, the Rhinos go for their second-ever win over the Tigers in Newcastle after last year's 34-20 win, but the Tigers have history on their side having beaten Leeds in consecutive seasons during the 2017 and 2018 games at Magic.

Find out more about Leeds' Magic Weekend history here.

Don't miss Magic Weekend 2023

Tickets and travel are still available to buy from the Rhinos ahead of this year's Magic Weekend.

Tickets for the Saturday and whole weekend can be bought at tickets.therhinos.co.uk or over the phone on 0371 423 1315. Travel is currently only available to buy for the Saturday and is priced at £30 per person this must be bought by 3pm on Friday 2nd June.

For more information, click here.