Leeds Rhinos head coach Rohan Smith has acknowledged his side face a “mini Grand Final” against fellow strugglers Huddersfield on Friday night amid increasing speculation over the 42-year-old’s future.

Rhinos limp into the Headingley clash sitting outside the play-off zone in eighth place and reeling from back-to-back defeats to Wakefield and Castleford, the Betfred Super League’s bottom two.

Ian Watson’s Giants have also struggled for much of the current campaign and go into the game in 10th place, with both clubs knowing a win is imperative if they are to mount a late push for a play-off place.

“It’s huge – it’s massive for both teams,” said Smith, whose arrival in April last year sparked his side’s rise from 11th to a fifth-placed finish and ultimately a spot in the Grand Final.

“We expect Huddersfield to be very hungry and it’s a mini Grand Final for both of us, coming off a week of reset. It’s a pivotal game for the season.”

The Rhinos’ staggering inconsistency has been laid bare in the last four games, with the dismal Wakefield and Castleford losses following an heroic 12-man win at Wigan and an injury-hit golden-point defeat to St Helens.

But, despite their alarming dip in form, Smith insists he has no fears over his job security and revealed he continues to have almost daily conversations with Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington.

“Gary and I talk a lot and are aligned with what we’re trying to create here,” added Smith.

“There’s no issues there. We chat every day about where we’re at – form, performance, recruitment and retention, and how we do things around the place that not dependent on last week’s result.

“Those chats happen every day and those chats will continue to be had.”

Tommy Makinson contributed 28 points as St Helens showed signs of shaping up for their customary Betfred Super League title push with an emphatic 48-6 win over Huddersfield Giants in Newcastle.

Saints’ quest for a fifth straight crown may have been slow to click into gear since their sapping pre-season trip Down Under to win the prestigious World Club Challenge over Penrith Panthers.

But bolstered by the brilliant Makinson, who crossed four times and added six conversions, Paul Wellens’ men turned on the style in the second half to ultimately coast to victory against the below-par Giants.

It was a performance far removed from the inconsistencies that have blighted their campaign so far, illustrated by indiscipline in their Challenge Cup win over Halifax, and errors that almost cost them in last week’s dramatic golden point win at Leeds.

Saints did take some time to click into gear, but they turned a 10-point half-time advantage into a nine-try romp to simply flatten Ian Watson’s strugglers, who had set out in the opening 10 minutes with plenty of intent.

The Giants have singularly failed to live up to their own pre-season expectations this season and may have harboured a glimmer of hope of a change in fortunes themselves after Kevin Naiqama put them in front on six minutes.

The Fijian star reacted fastest to flop onto Tui Lolohea’s clever kick once it narrowly eluded his team-mate Jake Bibby, and Jake Connor kicked the conversion.

But Saints responded swiftly when Jack Welsby sent Konrad Hurrell zeroing in on the diagonal to haul them back within two points, and from the moment Welsby sent Mark Percival scurrying over against the run of play with 20 minutes gone, there only looked to be one winner.

The Giants’ cause was not helped by a yellow card for Luke Yates for diving in late on Makinson, and Makinson responded by lurching into the corner off a long Welsby pass to extend his side’s lead just past the half-hour mark.

If Huddersfield still felt in with a shout trailing 16-6 at half-time, it was swiftly extinguished when Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook bustled over from Dodd’s inside ball within five minutes of the restart.

The Londoner’s effort opened the floodgates, as Makinson crossed for his second off a neat pass from Lomax, moments after having been denied an almost identical try for a questionable forward pass.

Hurrell went over and Makinson completed his hat-trick – all down the over-exploited right flank – as Saints went through the gears and extended their lead to over 30.

The one-man show continued as he crossed for his fourth off a Jonny Lomax pass with 12 minutes left on the clock, then his delicious backhand pass sent Joey Lussick galloping over before the 31-year-old fittingly rounded off the rout by arrowing over his sixth conversion from the touchline.

Reggae Warriors forward Michael Lawrence has signed with English Championship club Bradford Bulls for the 2023 season.

This move ends his 16-year spell with the Huddersfield Giants where he made 324 appearances.

The 32-year-old Lawrence, who made his debut for Jamaica in 2019, has represented the Reggae Warriors five times was a member of their squad at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup in England.

He previously represented the England Knights, a feeder team for the English Rugby team, twice from 2012-2013.

Four newcomers - Bradley Ho, Kieran Rush, AJ Wallace, and Alex Young - are included in Jamaica’s 24-man squad, as the Reggae Warriors prepare to make their debut in the Rugby League World Cup.

Fourteen of those selected were part of the squad that qualified for the tournament when winning the 2018 Americas Championship, Jamaica thereby becoming the first-ever Caribbean nation to be included in the competition proper.

The squad is headlined by Betfred Super League stars Michael Lawrence and Ashton Golding from Huddersfield Giants.

Six players from the domestic game are included, five are from Duhaney Park Red Sharks that recently won the National Club Championship Grand Final for the eighth time in 16 seasons, along with former Excelsior Community College speedster Abevia McDonald, who now plays at London Skolars.

Also selected are brothers Aaron and Ben Jones-Bishop, the former becoming Cornwall RLFC’s first international representative.

“We are excited to mix it with the best players in the world and everyone is ready to give their all. We encourage everyone to get behind this team and join us on what should be a terrific as well as historic journey,” said head coach Romeo Monteith.

“We first made our international debut in 2009, and to have qualified for a World Cup less than 10 years later, speaks to our commitment and tenacity.

“We are in a very tough group, but our aim is to give a good account of ourselves. The World Cup is the pinnacle of the game, and we hope this will be the first of many appearances.”

The Reggae Warriors are drawn in Group C and will face Ireland at Headingley, Leeds (October 16), 2008 World Cup winner New Zealand at the MKM Stadium, Hull (October 22) and Lebanon at Leigh Sports Village (October 30).

Two teams from each group will not only advance to the quarter-finals but will also book their ticket to the 2025 Rugby League World Cup to be staged in France.

The local contingent will depart the island on Saturday 1 October, and, in a warm-up match, the Jamaicans will face Cumbria on October 7 in Workington.

JAMAICA 24-MAN SQUAD

Greg Johnson (Batley Bulldogs), AJ Wallace (Bradford Bulls), Aaron Jones-Bishop (Cornwall RLFC), Ross Peltier, Keenen Tomlinson (Dewsbury Rams), Chevaughn Bailey, Khamisi Mckain, Andrew Simpson, Marvin Thompson, Renaldo Wade (Duhaney Park Red Sharks), James Woodburn-Hall (Halifax Panthers) Ashton Golding, Michael Lawrence, Kieran Rush (Huddersfield Giants), Bradley Ho, Mo Agoro, (Keighley Cougars),  Abevia McDonald (London Skolars) Joel Farrell, Ben Jones-Bishop (Sheffield Eagles), Joe Brown, Alex Young (Workington Town), Jacob Ogden (York City Knights), Jordan Andrade, Jy-Mel Coleman (Unattached).