Coach sets massive improvement target as Leeds Rhinos prepare for Castleford Tigers derby
Coach Brad Arthur has revealed the huge amount of improvement he reckons his Leeds Rhinos side need for a successful season.
Rhinos picked up their first Betfred Super League points of 2025 with a 32-6 win at Salford Red Devils last week, but Arthur believes they are still 40-50 per cent below where they need to be. Leeds have an opportunity to achieve back to back wins - something they managed only four times last year - when Castleford Tigers visit AMT Headingley on Sunday.
However, Arthur expects wounded Tigers, coached by Rhinos legend Danny McGuire, to have all guns blazing and cautioned his side - who could potentially be without their first-choice full-back, halves and loose-forward - need to “compete really hard and be professional with our approach”. He stressed: “Results are very important, but it’s more the manner and way and how we play and us understanding what is going to work for us moving forward. We are still only at 50-60 per cent of where I think we need to get to, but it is a good base to build from.”
Tigers also have a lengthy early-season casualty list and will arrive at AMT Headingley still searching for their first win under McGuire, the eight-time Rhinos Grand Final winner who was appointed team boss in pre-season, with another former Leeds hero Brett Delaney as his assistant. After their Challenge Cup defeat at Championship side Bradford Bulls, Tigers bounced back to take last year’s Super League runners-up Hull KR to golden-point extra-time in round one, having seen a last-gasp penalty kick, which could have won the game, drift wide.
That was a warning for Leeds and Arthur expects them to come up with a similar response on Sunday, following last weekend’s 46-6 home loss to St Helens. “They’ve copped a bit of a spray off their coach,” he said. “They’ve been told they are soft and nobody likes to be called soft. I think they are going to come with a lot of intensity and effort and energy.”