Keeping a perspective on things is difficult in the cut-throat business of professional sport.

It's a results-driven industry. The bigger picture is often ignored and secondary to the immediacy of a victory at the weekend.

For Leeds Rhinos, there's a very real chance that the next few weeks will require them to keep that level-headedness as they go through one of the worst injury crises in their recent history.

Richard Agar's squad is already missing its two senior fullbacks, their best winger and arguably their two first-choice centres.

A third centre is filling in at halfback as a result of two specialist halfbacks being injured, and now, reportedly, the talismanic captain and dominant halfback, Luke Gale, is out too.

In a nutshell, Leeds' backline has been completely and utterly ravaged by injury after painstaking injury, and there's little they can do about it right now.

What makes matters worse is that their opponents this weekend are none other than the defending back-to-back champions, St Helens, who have started the year in ominous form.

It couldn't be a more difficult tie for the Rhinos, who have had little luck with the fixture schedule either. While they have faced Castleford and Saints in the opening three weeks of the season, Wigan, who are suffering similar injury misfortune, have encountered newly-promoted Leigh and part-time York.

There is ultimately only one thing Leeds can do and that's to suck it up and take it while trying to overcome some pain they might face along the way.

For the youngsters set to feature in the coming weeks, such as Jack Broadbent and Corey Hall, this flurry of games will be doing their development the world of good. Like many other clubs, Leeds like to integrate their youngsters into the first-team while playing in a winning side filled with senior players. Though the circumstances surrounding their inclusion are slightly different, the benefits remain the same.

If results do prove to be some way off what people had hoped for, it won't be time to panic. You don't win a Grand Final in the opening month of the season, after all. Just ask the Rhinos squad that lifted the trophy at Old Trafford in 2017 after enduring humiliation at the hands of Castleford earlier in the year.

What matters between now and the time Leeds' senior stars come back is that they stick in there and try to tick over while blooding the next batch of Academy stars. If they can produce just a few wins to keep them within arm's reach of the leading pack, they'll have done a commendable job.

In the meantime, the challenge of taking on St Helens right now is daunting, to say the least.

But don't expect Leeds to take a backwards step.