'Don't fancy our chances': dejected Leeds Rhinos fans fear Super League semi-final after loss v Hull FC

Last Friday’s 18-12 setback against Hull FC, in front of a 16,000 crowd, was Leeds’ third defeat in succession at AMT Headingley. Rhinos still finished the regular season in second place on the Betfred Super League table, but our fans panel reckon their form has deserted them at just the wrong time.

Leeds have two weeks to prepare for a home semi-final, but is that enough time to turn things around? Here’s what the jury think.

KATIE MARCZYNSKI

We needed a convincing performance after the Wigan loss and that was not it. Hull FC fully deserved their win, although I'm not sure Ethan O’Neill’s goading of the South Stand makes sense for a team that finished 11th.

I agree with Brad Arthur that our edges were poor, but we can't blame Ryan Hall for everything. Maika Sivo was way off the mark and our half-backs were both missing for the second week running.

When you look at some of our losses this season, it’s so frustrating. Beaten by both Leigh and Hull home and away is disappointing - and let's not talk about Castleford. The main positives for me were having Keenan Palasia back - who we’ve missed massively - and that Ash Handley looked fairly comfortable at full-back.

We’ve lost our form at the worst possible time, just when others have found theirs. Until recently I’d have been confident of winning a home semi-final, but three successive defeats on our turf and I don’t fancy our chances against any of the three teams we could face a week on Friday.

Hopefully the week off will do us good. We have two weeks to regroup, show some big improvements and end the season on a high.

IAIN SHARP

Watching Leeds for as long as I have, I usually keep my powder dry in situations like this. After all, it isn’t the first time and probably won’t be the last this sort of thing has happened, so a big thanks to the team for their efforts on Friday evening!

Let’s not bother putting anything like scoreboard pressure on Wigan, playing 50 miles away, on the off chance they slip up and gift us the league leaders’ shield. Let’s not bother going down fighting.

Let’s not bother trying to repay the faithful for the defeat against Wigan the week before and let’s certainly not bother against a side that has been appalling for most of the season and who have only seemingly managed to motivate themselves against the bitter local rivals or against Leeds.

DAVID MUHL

No wins in the last three games at home is simply not good enough. Teams must be relishing having us in the semi-final.

Our form has really dipped in the last few weeks and this is worrying. There were very few positives on Friday and we were poor both in attack and defence. We had plenty of possession, but were unable to convert that into points.

Our halves were very poor and didn’t seem to be able to pass a decent ball. We should not only be beating teams like Hull, we should also be racking up big scores. Maybe we’ve just peaked too early.

It will be Warrington, Wakefield or Leigh in the semi-final and on this form, I cannot see us progressing to the final. If we do, Wigan will thump us. Back to Friday and the few players that performed were Keenan Palasia, Matt Lodge and Tom Holroyd, who must be a shoe-in for the England squad on the way he’s playing at the moment.

We have a couple of weeks until the semi-final and I really hope Brad Arthur works them hard. They shouldn’t need motivating for a game like that - we just need to work on the skill side of things, which seems a strange thing to say about these players, but it really seems necessary.

It was good to see Maika Sivo back and he got a big welcome from the fans. He had a few chances and not surprisingly looked a bit rusty following weeks on the sideline. Let’s hope for a better performance in the semi-final. I’m not unhappy if we lose to a better side as long as we play well and make a real effort, something that seems to have been lacking in the last few weeks.

BECKY OXLEY

I’m finding it challenging to articulate the performance in printable terms this week . Following the previous week’s loss to Wigan, I anticipated we would regain our focus and conclude the league season positively.

However, there was a lack of cohesion and the ball was circulated without any real rhythm or strategic intent. Ash Handley playing at full-back may have disrupted our flow as we were making careless passes and consequently losing possession frequently. Additionally, we consistently failed to capitalise on Hull’s short kick-offs, which allowed them to maintain the possession we so desperately needed.

In my view, our performance was even worse than last week and this is the most disappointed I have felt this season. Hull dominated us in every aspect, which is quite surprising given they have only secured eight wins throughout the season.

We now have a two-week break before the semi-finals. I hope this time allows us to unite as a team and address the issues that have been plaguing us. We must ensure we put our opponents away decisively and deny them any opportunity.

Reaching the Grand Final would be fantastic, but I am already feeling anxious about the semi-final. Let’s hope Brad Arthur can work his magic and we can secure the win, leading us to a memorable visit to Old Trafford.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

Two weeks in sport is a very long time. Since the impressive win at Saints things have gone downhill for Leeds Rhinos as they suffered a second defeat in a row, at home to Hull FC. It is starting to look like the Rhinos peaked too soon in the season and after this further setback, they have a mountain to climb to kick-start the season in the upcoming home semi-final.

A lack of execution when we were in attack cost us the game. It was disjointed across the pitch and our star players never really got settled into the game. We had enough possession and chances to win this game, but we didn’t see that cutting edge we have seen so many times this year.

Pair that with a lack of urgency in defence, especially for their second try and it was always going to be a tough night at the office. The performance we saw from Leeds felt like they had already given up on finishing first and Hull took full advantage.

Hopefully, with a two-week gap to our semi-final, Leeds can rest and reset before the biggest game of the season. It gives players returning from injury time to regain some fitness and opportunity to find the form they were in before, especially Maika Sivo as he looked like a shell of his former self on Friday.

It is vital we go into this game with the confidence we’ve had all year. If we approach it like we have done for the past two weeks, our season will be over.