As the first part of the Reserves season almost hits the halfway stage, Leeds Rhinos look to continue their rise up the league standings as Chev Walker's side take on Huddersfield Giants Reserves at Laund Hill on Saturday morning, kick off 11am.

2026's competition saw a change to the Reserves format as teams play 11 games before being split into an upper and lower six. Teams who qualify in the top six have the opportunity to take a major step towards a Grand Final spot, which makes wins at this stage of the season highly important especially with six fixtures to go. The Rhinos look to book one of those top-six spots and keep their hopes of retaining their Reserves title alive after a faltering start saw them win one of their first four games.

Putting their early form behind them, a convincing 84-6 result against Bradford Bulls saw six tries from Oscar Brown help the Rhinos into the play-off spots for the first time this year, and a result against the Giants would help continue Leeds' momentum with games against London and Hull FC coming up. Much like 2025, head coach Walker has opted to mix first-team talent with members of his Academy outfit who are unbeaten in 2026. Last time out against the Bull, half back Kai Irvine became the seventh Academy player to walk out for the Reserves and added two tries on his debut, whilst the likes of Jeremiah Mata'utia, Ethan O'Neill, Riley Lumb and Tom Nicholson-Watton are gaining additional minutes away from Brad Arthur's first team as they also develop the next generation of players coming through. 

Leeds take on a Huddersfield side still waiting for their 2026 season to get underway as the Giants are winless after five games. Having faced Bradford, Castleford, Warrington, Wigan and Hull KR so far, Sunday's hosts are tied to the bottom of the table with Leigh as they've been unable to find a result. After damaging results against the Wolves and Wigan at the end of March, tries from Stanley Hobson, Alex Chippendale and Lloyd McEwan-Peters were all the Giants could muster as Hull KR ran riot to secure a 52-16 final score last time out.

Having beaten the Rhinos twice in the Reserves competition in 2023 and 2024, a win this weekend would be important for kick-starting Huddersfield's campaign - particularly as they travel for a bottom-of-the-table clash with the Leopards next up.

Round Five Highlights

Ticket Information

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