Brian McDermott plays down Danny McGuire injury fears after Leeds lose
ByPA Sport
Updated 05/02/2016 at 07:34 GMT
Leeds coach Brian McDermott drew more positives than negatives from his side's opening 12-10 defeat by Warrington and is hoping a knee injury sustained by new captain Danny McGuire is not serious.
Danny McGuire of Leeds Rhinos
Image credit: Reuters
Leeds coach Brian McDermott drew more positives than negatives from his side's opening 12-10 defeat by Warrington and is hoping a knee injury sustained by new captain Danny McGuire is not serious.
McGuire, appointed as the successor to departed captain Kevin Sinfield, limped off after 31 minutes with his side trailing 6-0 and played no further part in the match.
"I'm not sure how serious it is," McDermott said. "He's obviously done something, but it's pointless speculating.
"He tried to run it off so you'd imagine it's not really bad. But there's something in there and he's got a brace on. We'll know more tomorrow."
Tries from Brad Singleton and Ryan Hall put the champions into a 10-6 lead early in the second half, but Warrington finished the stronger side and clinched victory with winger Kevin Penny's 68th-minute try.
McDermott was far from downhearted, though, and did not believe the loss of McGuire was pivotal.
"I thought while Danny was on there, we looked to lack a bit of spite on attack so I wouldn't say a deciding factor," he said.
"It was a tough game to start with. There were three or four things that wanted to be good at and we were so there were more positives than negatives.
"Both teams defended well, but we probably lacked a bit of fluency and cohesion when we attacked their try-line."
Leeds had a chance to secure a draw, but full-back Zak Hardaker skewed a penalty kick at goal four minutes from the end, awarded after replacement half-back Jordan Lilley was obstructed as he chased his own grubber kick.
"People miss goals," McDermott said. "It will happen. It was not a sitter, but one of the easier ones to get."
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