Max Simpson taken to hospital 'as a precaution' after injured in Leeds Rhinos' win over Hill
Simpson, who was making his first Rhinos appearance since 2022 was stretchered off the pitch in the 75th minute
Leeds head coach Brad Arthur confirmed centre Max Simpson was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure after sustaining a neck injury in the Rhinos 34-0 win over Hull at the MKM Stadium.
Simpson, who was making his first Rhinos appearance since 2022 after a series of career-threatening injuries, was stretchered off the pitch in the 75th minute after receiving extensive treatment following a collision.
Arthur expressed his hope that Simpson's injury may not be as bad as it appeared, saying: "I'm not 100 per cent sure but but they're pretty confident that it's all precautionary at the moment.
"He seems in good spirits. It was a pretty nasty collision so you'd expect that we would take precautions with him. It's unfortunate but there's every possibility that he's fine and good to go."
Arthur paid tribute to the way his side came through a competitive first 25 minutes before capitalising on a pair of Hull errors to grab the lead and ultimately skate away to a convincing win.
"We're really good at our responses at the minute around any little bit of adversity, and getting on with the job," added Arthur.
"I thought in the first 10 or 15 minutes we were a bit flat and tired and didn't have the same energy levels that we'd been displaying, but the boys showed plenty of character and hung in there.
"We knew once we got that try we would find a bit of energy from it. That's what good teams do. You're not always going to be at your best but it's been a long season and we've been working hard."
John Cartwright revealed the extent of Hull's own injury issues after a loss that leaves his side's play-off ambitions hanging by a thread.
Influential prop Herman Ese'ese sustained a painful-looking injury that looks likely to rule him out of next week's crucial Hull derby, while Ed Chamberlain and Cade Cust picked up hamstring and back issues respectively.
Cartwright admitted his side paid the price for lapses in concentration after a solid-looking first half hour, with quickfire tries from Ryan Hall, Kallum Watkins and Jake Connor lifting Leeds into an almost unassailable advantage.
"It shows the quality of the opposition we were playing against," said Cartwright. "We probably had the better of the game in the first 25 minutes, and that was where the rot set in.
"We had to be near perfect today, and in the first 25 minutes we were near perfect with the ball and defended really well. It was on the back of three errors that they capitalised and it went away from us.
"They tried hard, they fought hard, but I don't think we played well with the ball. I think we can do a lot better than what we did. (Next week) we've got a game that means a hell of a lot to this club and there's no lack of motivation to go there and do well."