69 mins

MATCH PREVIEW | Saints next up for Reserves on Friday

The penultimate game of the first half of the Reserves season sees Leeds Rhinos meet St Helens at AMT Headingley on Thursday afternoon, kick off 5.15pm live on Rhinos TV+.

Two weeks on from their comeback win over Castleford Tigers in another curtain raiser matchup with the men's first team, the Rhinos moved up to third in the Reserves standings as tries from Joe Diskin, Harley Thomas, Riley Lumb, Ned McCormack and Marcus Qareqare secured a 28-16 triumph. Having been eight points behind at half time and struggling for momentum, the young Rhinos turned the game around to win their fifth consecutive fixture and put Chev Walker's side on the verge of qualification for the top six - subsequently allowing them to fight to retain their Reserves Grand Final crown in the second half of the season.

With a sole game against Hull KR remaining after this week's match, the Rhinos will confirm their fixtures for the second half of the season when the final standings have been decided. Along with Leeds, the other teams that have confidently confirmed their spot in the top half of the table are Wigan, Wakefield and Warrington, whilst Castleford, Hull KR, Hull FC and St Helens are amongst the sides chasing the final two spots. In a change to previous Reserves formats, a top-six spot is required for teams to take a step closer to potentially playing in the Grand Final, as teams in the top half play each other once to decide the four semi-finalists and subsequent Grand Finalists. The bottom six teams follow the same format, only they cannot qualify for the semi-finals.

Lumb's fifteenth try of the season sees the flying winger lead the try-scoring charts for the Rhinos, whilst Diskin (9 tries) and Thomas (6 tries) have also been regular scorers alongside featuring on loan in the Betfred Championship. Similar to 2025, head coach Walker has also dipped into his Under-18s Academy ranks as Zak Lloyd, Jacob Hardy and Hughie Tinkler have been amongst the names who have stepped up alongside their Academy commitments.

After getting back to winning ways with an important win over London last time out, St Helens enter this week's game knowing a winning result keeps them in the fight for a top-six berth. A mixed season so far sees Ian Talbot's team enter round ten with three wins from nine games following a mid-season slump in form. Wins over Leigh and Bradford got the side off to a flying start, before a heavy defeat to Castleford started a run of five consecutive losses to Hull KR, Wigan, Hull FC and Wakefield. They had to share the points on the road against Huddersfield prior to their victory against London, and now look ahead to important games against Leeds and Warrington.

Watch the action live on Rhinos TV+

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