Senior to miss final

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from the skysports website...

Coach Tony Smith has confirmed that Keith Senior will not be in the Leeds line-up for Saturday's Grand Final against Bradford.

The influential centre is still struggling with an ankle injury he suffered in the engage Super League fixture against the Bulls at Headingley back on August 19.

Despite being carried off on a stretcher, Senior returned to action the following week as he was named in the Rhinos team that lost narrowly to Hull in the Powergen Challenge Cup final.

However, the Great Britain international has not played since and, despite hopes he would return for the finale to the domestic season, it is now certain he has now been ruled out of the match at Old Trafford.

"The game has probably come a week too early for Keith," stated Smith to the club's website.

"It's disappointing because he was desperate to play but he is not 100 percent and we will go without him."

The Leeds coach did announce that Senior would be ready to play for Great Britain in their Gillette Tri-Nations campaign.

The absence of the former Sheffield Eagle means Chris McKenna will continue at centre, a position he played in the qualifying semi-final win over St Helens at Knowsley Road.

Bradford coach Brian Noble admitted he felt sorry for Senior, although he was quick to point out that the defending champions still had plenty of quality in their squad.

"I'm disappointed for Keith that he's not playing in the final," he said. "I would have liked to see their best players out there.
"Our focus wasn't Keith Senior, the focus is the Leeds team. They have world-class players all across the board."