Zane Tetevano future: Leeds boss answers whether he will play again this season

Leeds head coach Rohan Smith confirmed last week that he will be without overseas recruit Zane Tetevano indefinitely due to personal health concerns.

The 32-year-old has made 11 appearances so far in 2023, and last featured in the Super League win over Wigan at DW Stadium.

Leeds are currently low on numbers within their squad with the likes of Aidan Sezer, Harry Newman and Morgan Gannon recently picking up respective knocks.

Tom Holroyd was also a late withdrawal at Magic Weekend, having been named to start against Castleford on the Saturday. He was replaced by Sam Walters, with Liam Tindall named on the bench.

Smith ensured that Tetevano’s health remains the priority at Headingley Stadium, but did not rule out the potential of him featuring again in 2023.

Smith provides Zane Tetevano update

“That’s an indefinite process. His health is fine, he’s in and around training and he’s got a smile on his face,” Smith said on Wednesday.

“He’s been restricted to not being able to train fully. He can do moderate, sort of low intensity exercise, which for a rugby league player is not that stimulating. But that’s where he’s at for now.

“It is quite possible that he will play again this year, but also we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. His health and his longevity as a human is more important than playing.”

Tom Holroyd update

England international Holroyd, 22, is ‘likely’ to be unavailable for Sunday’s clash with Super League strugglers Wakefield, Smith confirmed.

“They’re still working through that with some scans and they’re awaiting some results for a calf issue,” Smith said on Holroyd.

“He’s likely to be unavailable. But we’ve got a longer turn around here, so we’ve got a few days before we’ve got to make a decision and name that 21-man squad.

“He actually had a hit in the back last week against St Helens and, at the time, didn’t think a lot of it.

“But they think the calf injury may have originated from the back injury and the nerves and stuff travelling down the neck. It may be a referred situation from his back.”

Holroyd adds to Leeds’ already-long list of absentees, which includes fellow forward Sam Lisone.

“Holroyd, Lisone and Zane unavailable at the same time, maybe one or two others, but we’ve got to focus on who is playing and that certainly is my attention,” Smith continued.

“It certainly doesn’t help, but it’s the way it is and every club deals with an injury situation at one stage. Ours is now. We had a pretty good run of injuries there for a bit.

“But they’ve all sort of lined up at the same time.”

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