Henderson poised for Bulls debut

From the Telegraph & Argus, first published Wednesday 29th Jun 2005.

New hooking recruit Ian Henderson will almost certainly make his Bulls debut against Leeds at Headingley

on Friday night after impressing at training since his arrival at the club on Thursday.

Henderson has been included in Brian Noble's 20-man squad alongside fellow Aussie Brad Meyers, who could make a shock early return from a knee ligament injury.

Loose forward Lee Radford has also been included despite being troubled by an Achilles tendon injury that has forced him to sit out training so far this week.

With Leon Pryce serving the final game of a three-match suspension and key strike duo Shontayne Hape and Lesley Vainikolo still three weeks away from resuming their deadly partnership, the Bulls will be far from at full strength on Friday.

However, Noble insists his side can tame the red-hot Rhinos and said: "They offer a big challenge. Their position on the league table doesn't lie. They are a very good team with some explosive world-class players.

"But I am still very confident we can go there and win, not just compete. We need to win and that will be our focus."

The Bulls are due to blow hot once more following a chilling home draw against Widnes Vikings, and Noble is hoping - for now at least - that their recent trend of good performances following bad continues.

"We've talked about the roller-coaster situation that we are going through and we need to put it right," he said.

"But if we are going on the roller-coaster ride we should play well this week."

Rhinos have included Matt Diskin in their squad for the first time since he ruptured a knee ligament on his Great Britain debut against New Zealand in the Tri-Nations Series last autumn.

Bulls' 20-man squad: Ferres, Deacon, Cook, Fielden, I Harris, Withers, Johnson, Lynch, B Harris, Parker, Paul, Peacock, Pratt, K Pryce, Langley, Radford, Reardon, Meyers, Vagana, Henderson.

Leeds' 20-man squad: Mathers, Calderwood, Walker, Senior, Bai, McGuire, Burrow, Bailey, Diskin, McDermott, Lauitiiti, McKenna, Sinfield, Dunemann, Ward, Poching, Jones-Buchanan, Ellis, Scruton, Smith.

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