Boss says Leeds Rhinos are good in a fight: Brad Arthur hails 'great response' after win v Warrington Wolves

Boss Brad Arthur hailed a “good win and great response” after Leeds Rhinos beat Warrington Wolves 26-22 at AMT Headingley today to end their two-match slump.

Warrington, who took a 100 per cent winning record into the game, led 12-0 after 26 minutes, but Leeds rallied to cut the gap to four points at the interval and were the better side in the second period. It was a tense battle in tough conditions and Arthur was happy with the “grit” shown by his men, who had lost to Wakefield Trinity - in the Challenge Cup - and Hull FC in their previous two games.

Arthur said: “I am just pleased we’re happy to win tough and gritty - that’s what I am trying to instill. We need to play like that all the time. I think sometimes, like last week, we get frustrated when it's not 40-0, but we have got to come to the game knowing teams are turning up and putting their best foot forward against us and we have to earn it. They are not just going to roll over and give it to us; when we get into a fight, we’re good, but it’s about not getting frustrated like we did last week.”

Arthur insisted he wasn’t particularly alarmed when Warrington took their early lead. He reflected: “The breeze was torture, it was always going to be tough to get field position. I thought if we just got some field position and six or more tackles in a row, we’d score. Twice that happened and we scored.

“Going in at half-time, I was happy with that scoreline. I knew in the second half it was going to be all about field position. In the first 20-25 minutes we probably didn’t turn the ball over good enough. I don’t want to be too critical of our halves and their kicks, but we did talk about maybe having a bit more control to our sets and running it on the last and not kicking.”

Leeds had led at half-time in their successive losses and failed to score after the break. A converted try early in Sunday’s second period edged them ahead and they had the strength of character to fight back again when Warrington regained their four-point advantage with half an hour remaining.

“The big difference from last week was the last 40 minutes,” Arthur added. “The second half last week we lost our composure. We held our composure this week.”

Rhinos had struggled for form since the big win against world champions Hull KR in Las Vegas a month ago, but Sunday’s result moved them up to third in the table, two points behind Wigan Warriors and level with Warrington. Arthur – who left out Harry Newman and gave a home debut to centre Jack Bird – stated: “It's a good win, a great response and I am proud of the boys.

“I know exactly what this team is capable of - sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. Last week was unlike us and I want to make sure we never do it again.”