Cup of woe, Las Vegas toll and potential team changes: latest Leeds Rhinos talking points ahead of Hull FC

Last Friday’s 24-14 Betfred Challenge Cup fourth round loss at Wakefield Trinity brought Rhinos back down to earth after a promising run of three successive wins. Coach Brad Arthur’s side return to action at Hull FC on Sunday in a game which has taken on new importance. Here’s five talking points.

1: Cup of woe. Rhinos’ run in the Challenge Cup has gone well past poor and is now verging on embarrassing. They have failed to reach the last eight in any of the six seasons since their most recent Wembley win and in that time Leeds’ only two victories were against amateurs Wests Warriors and Championship side Widnes Vikings.

That’s not good enough for a club of Leeds’ stature and tradition in the competition. It’s also far from ideal for the Cup to have one of the best-supported teams consistently crashing out in the early stages.

After the play-off exit to St Helens last year, the defeat at Wakefield threw into doubt Rhinos’ ability to win the games that really matter. It was a costly loss and left Leeds with points to prove.

2: Eggs in one basket. This column last week suggested things were going almost too well for Rhinos. They are certainly back down to earth after a trio of encouraging results and performances, but there’s no time to feel sorry for themselves.

There are only three trophies to be won and a month into the season one of those has already been crossed off the agenda. In 2004, Rhinos lost - by the same 24-14 scoreline - at St Helens in an early round of the Challenge Cup and went on to dominate the season, finishing nine points clear at the top of the table and winning the Grand Final.

The league is more competitive now, but Leeds need to put the three free weekends they’ll get to good use and, as Arthur admitted after Friday’s match, use the Cup setback as motivation for the league. Hull are in a similar situation, so Sunday is a huge game for both clubs.

3: Feeling weary. Arthur refused to use it as an excuse, but the five-day turnaround to the Cup tie, 11 days after they got back from Las Vegas, almost certainly did contribute to Leeds’ below-par performance. Rhinos have trained only twice in the past couple of weeks and - as supporters who made the trip will admit - the jetlag takes its toll.

Unless they were to go on to lift the trophy at Wembley, the 6,000 Rhinos fans in Vegas would probably have taken that win in lieu of a Cup run, but Leeds can’t let it derail their season. It showed what Rhinos at their best are capable of, but also put their rivals on red alert. Arthur’s side know how good they can be, but doing it once isn’t enough. They have set a standard and need to live up to it.

4: To change or not to change. Team selection for Sunday’s visit to Hull FC will be interesting. Arthur won’t want to make wholesale changes after one poor performance, but on the other hand there are players champing at the bit to get into the team.

Arthur has hinted at a debut for recent signing Jack Bird and Riley Lumb, Ned McCormack, Fergus McCormack, Jeremiah Mata’utia, Tom Nicholson-Watton, Ben Littlewood, Ethan O’Neill and Presley Cassell - who’ve all featured for the first team this year - played in the reserves’ 94-0 win at Leigh Leopards on Saturday. Leigh aren’t very good, but Leeds’ fringe players could not have done much more.

Bird’s role is a mystery, but if Brodie Croft remains on the casualty list and George Brown, who suffered a knee injury at Wakefield, is ruled out, the Aussie could potentially come in on the bench with Chris Hankinson switching to the halves.

5: All right Jack. There was always a risk the decision to release Jack Sinfield would come back to haunt Leeds and he showed them what they are missing with an excellent performance at scrum-half in the Cup tie, securing the official man of the match award. The 21-year-old looked more confident and assured than in his first team performances for Rhinos, though there he was often thrown into a struggling or under-strength side and didn’t let them down.

The fact he is getting regular on-field time now and thriving is good for him and the English game generally, if frustrating for Leeds fans. On the other hand, if Sinfield had stayed at Rhinos, 19-year-old George Brown probably wouldn’t have three senior appearances to his name now, so that’s a positive for his old club.