Brodie Croft's on fire, 'real deal' debate, huge scores and hard lessons: latest Leeds Rhinos talking points

Last Friday’s 56-22 win at Huddersfield Giants, plus defeats for Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors, left Leeds in pole position, ahead of Wakefield Trinity and St Helens on points difference, with eight rounds of their 27 fixtures completed. There’s still a long way to go and questions yet to be answered, but much for Rhinos fans to celebrate ahead of Friday’s home clash with Catalans Dragons. Here’s five talking points.

1: Attack and defence. Defensively, Rhinos haven’t been as solid so far this year as they were last season, but their attack is much improved. In 2025, when they finished fourth, Rhinos scored an average of 22.59 points per game while conceding only 11.48.

This year they have leaked 130 points in eight games, an average of 16.25. However, that is more than made up for by their improvement with the ball, scoring 32.75 per match so far.

The game at Huddersfield was typical of Leeds’ campaign as a whole. Rhinos produced some wonderful attacking rugby to score 10 tries, but also conceded four - including one before they’d had possession of the ball. That’s frustrating for a coach and Brad Arthur was predictably annoyed afterwards, but it should keep them grounded and certainly makes their games interesting to watch.

2: Are Rhinos the real deal? Leeds deserve to be top of the table at this stage, but some questions remain. Rhinos have been under-strength only once this season - in round one at Leigh Leopards - and were well beaten. How will they cope if, or more likely when, they get a series of injuries?

Following the losses at Wakefield Trinity (in the Challenge Cup) and Hull FC, Rhinos still need to prove they can come out on top in an arm wrestle against fired up opposition, though the Easter win at Bradford Bulls was a step in the right direction. But most significantly, can they beat their title rivals?

After playing only one current top-six side so far this term, four of their next five games are against teams now in the play-off positions. Where they are after round 13, in June, will tell us more about whether Leeds are genuine contenders in 2026, but so far, so good.

3: Brodes well. Rhinos have run in 45 tries in Super League, almost half of those scored by either Maika Sivo or Brodie Croft. Back-to-back player of the month awards is a superb achievement by winger Sivo, who registered eight tries in four league and cup games last month, including two hat-tricks. His total now stands at 15 in eight games (13 from seven in Super League).

That has overshadowed an equally impressive start to the campaign by Croft. The stand-off hadn’t scored a senior hat-trick in his career before touching down four times against Huddersfield, taking his 2026 tally to 10 in seven games. He has scored in all his Super League appearances apart from the Easter derby at Bradford Bulls and has three try assists as well.

4: Points fest. Between them, Rhinos’ men, women, reserves and women’s academy scored an incredible 260 points last weekend, conceding only 26. The reserves followed the men’s lead with a 64-4 success at Huddersfield, which wasn’t surprising given Leeds’ side included seven who have placed in the first team this year: Fergus and Ned McCormack, Riley Lumb, Jeremiah Mata’utia, Tom Nicholson-Watton, Ethan O’Neill and Presley Cassell.

Clearly there are players match-fit and in form waiting for a Super League chance if/when injuries do strike. The women completed their Challenge Cup group campaign with a 72-0 trouncing of London Broncos after beating Leigh Leopards 82-0 in their opening game and the women’s academy kicked off their season by winning 68-0 at Warrington Wolves. And that’s without mentioning the wheelchair team’s 96-6 win at Edinburgh.

5: Hard lessons. On the other hand, it’s tough times for Rhinos at scholarship level, where they have been dominant in the past. Leeds beat Bradford Bulls 18-10 in their opening game, but have since lost 58-0 to Hull FC, 23-10 against Leigh Leopards and 32-24 at Huddersfield Giants last week. The academy could be in for some difficult seasons, but the amount of talent Leeds have in their current under-18 and reserve sides should ensure it isn’t too much of an issue for the senior team, for a few years at least.