Buderus and Eastwood both sidelined

Leeds Rhinos have suffered further fitness blows after key duo Danny Buderus and Greg Eastwood were ruled out for potentially long periods.

By The Newsroom

Published 9th Jul 2010, 10:49 BST

Updated 9th Jul 2010, 10:49 BST

New Zealand forward Eastwood and former Australia hooker Buderus both suffered knee ligament injuries during last weekend's win over

St Helens.

Eastwood, who missed nine games earlier in the season with a wrist injury, is set to miss between six to 10 weeks, while Buderus is facing between two to four weeks on the sidelines.

Both are set to miss the August 7 Challenge Cup semi-final with St Helens, although Buderus may have an outside chance of featuring.

The news came just a day after the reigning champions announced that Luke Burgess, Rob Burrow, and Ali Lauitiiti would make their returns from lengthy absences against Hull KR tonight.

Coach Brian McClennan is already without the services of Brent Webb, Kylie Leuluai, Matt Diskin and Kallum Watkins, all of whom are expected to miss the Saints game.