72 mins

MATCH PREVIEW | Rhinos and Wolves U18s meet this Saturday

Leeds Rhinos Under-18s return to action after a two-week break in fixtures as Chev Walker's side head to Victoria Park on Saturday afternoon to take on Warrington Wolves Under-18s, kick off 1pm.

Ahead of the first meeting between the clubs since they went head to head in last year's Academy Grand Final, Leeds were able to take confidence into the break after defeating St Helens 58-0 at Stanningley in June. A pleasing performance for the young Rhinos saw Jacob Hardy, Sonny Hetherington and Jacob Tooala score two tries apiece to lead a wider 11-try outing, but the result was made sweeter by a resolute defensive performance that restricted the travelling Saints to zero points.

One area Walker's side has prided themselves in 2026 has been their defensive effort as they have conceded the least amount of points out of any team in the Academy competition. Joining games against Saints and Bradford where Leeds kept their opponents scoreless, Walker's side have also kept the likes of Huddersfield and Leigh to just one try as they have in turn scored almost 300 points so far.

Aiming to convert the Saints performance into this week, Walker's side have games against Wigan and Wakefield coming up before the end of the month - at which point the teams in the top four of the Academy league will play off once to decide the top two teams who will both proceed through to the Grand Final in September.

Warrington - also in the chase for the top four - enter this week's game level with Leeds on six wins from seven games. Daniel Hill's side couldn't overcome Wigan last week as a 42-0 scoreline handed the Wolves their heaviest loss of the season, but they get an opportunity to bounce back to winning form, which saw them win six consecutive games.

Off the back of being crowned Grand Final champions last year, Warrington have seen off the challenge of Bradford, St Helens, Leigh, Hull KR, Wakefield and Castleford to be back amongst the top Academy sides in the competition. Alongside a test against the Rhinos, they have games against Huddersfield and Hull FC remaining to ensure they finish as high up the table as possible.