Buderus on course for Leeds return

Australian hooker Danny Buderus is on course to return to full fitness for Leeds Rhinos for the new 2010 season.

Buderus suffered a fracture to his tibia during the Rhinos loss at Wigan back in July and missed the remainder of the Championship winning 2009 season.

However, the former Australian skipper, who recently launched his new autobiography ‘Talent is not enough’, has reported back for pre-season training and is heading towards full fitness for the big kick off on 29th January against Crusaders in Wrexham.

Commenting on the squad Head Coach Brian McClennan said, “We are very pleased with how the guys are looking. We have two groups at present, the players who are fully fit have gone straight into their pre-season campaign and the players who are returning from injury or close season operations are working with our medical team.

“Thankfully there are not too many in the latter group but our excellent medical staff will make sure that the players are 100% right before moving them onto the next stage in their rehabilitation. It is a long season, especially if you want to achieve all the goals you can do when you set out in January, and we need to make sure the guys are in the best possible shape.

“Danny Buderus is coming along really well. Our physio staff are very pleased with how he has come back from his time off and he is making good strides. The rehab group are doing well in general with Ali Lauitiiti, Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Brett Delaney working hard. Even the longer term injured players like Keith Senior and Ian Kirke are being very diligent and taking care of themselves and, at this stage, we are confident that they will be ready for the start of the season in 2010.”