Leeds Rhinos boss bans Las Vegas talk: York Knights top priority as Brad Arthur says 'we need to respond'
The V-word has been banned ahead of Leeds Rhinos’ first home game of the season.
Rhinos take on Hull KR in Nevada next Saturday, but what happens in Vegas can wait, according to Brad Arthur. Leeds have to get through tomorrow’s (Friday) Betfred Super League clash with York Knights first and the coach insisted: “We haven’t talked about Vegas and I refuse to talk about it until after the game.”
Arthur stressed he’ll be disappointed if any of his players use the prospect of securing a place on Monday’s flight as motivation for this weekend. Leeds’ campaign began with a 26-14 defeat at Leigh Leopards and Arthur stated: “At home, in front of our crowd who support us and the loyalty they show, if we need to find extra motivation we are in it for the wrong reasons.
“We want to be winning games of footy. Regardless of what happened the week before or what happens the week after, this is really important to us about how we want to perform and get on the front foot at home.
“It’s important for us all round. It is our first home game, what happens next week has got nothing to do with our mentality and attitude around Friday. It becomes a very long week on the back of a loss, you can’t wait to get out there and get it right. That’s what I am looking forward to.”
York, whose 21 includes six-ex Leeds men, proved they aren’t in Super League just to make up the numbers when they stunned 2025 treble-winners Hull KR 19-18 in round one last Thursday. Though Rhinos won nine of their 13 regular-season games at Headingley last year, Arthur admitted: “Four losses at home is too many.
“They were games we were in positions to win. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, it is a really important game this week against an opposition that proved their worth in the competition.
“Right from the start I was more than happy to have the three new teams enter and I thought it was good for the game. I know it’s only round one, but those teams all showed they are going to be more than capable. I don’t think any team will be taking them lightly.”
Assessing York’s performance last week, Arthur added: “They were pretty clinical, discipline-wise. They hardly made any errors, had a high completion rate, played tough and fought hard and they just hung on.
“They went down 18-6 and got an opportunity against 12 men and made the most of it. On the back of that there was a bit of crowd injection and they just rode the wave. They had that bit of belief and momentum at the back end of the game.”
While Rhinos are fully aware of the threats York will pose, Arthur’s main concern is ensuring his side take opportunities they missed last week. “We need to respond,” he vowed. “I was happy with our effort and physicality - we dominated nearly every stat except the scoreboard.
“We had some big moments against us; I thought we played okay as a team in terms of what we want to look like and what we want to stand for, but the next level for this team is individuals have to understand there’s going to be accountability around performances.
“We need 17 blokes performing well each week and when you get a few injuries that’s when you really need 17 blokes to perform well. You need to be accountable for your actions on the field and we need to respond this week. That’s the priority.
“We had to be honest with our review, we created way too many opportunities we didn’t make the most of, especially in the first half. We dominated field position and had plenty of chances, all our numbers and stats were really good, we just didn’t make the most of it.
“I would have been really disappointed if we got bashed up and our physicality was poor or our effort was poor and we didn’t have any fight in us. But how long are we going to sit here talking about missed opportunities? We need to get them right.”