Leeds Rhinos boss delighted with 'big improvement', hails 3 standouts in 'tough' win v Salford Red Devils

Rhinos bounced back from their Betfred Super League round one defeat by Wakefield Trinity in emphatic fashion, despite conceding a try before they’d held the ball and losing influential duo Cameron Smith and Brodie Croft in the first half. “It was a tough win, they are the sort of wins you really enjoy and are proud of as a coach,” Arthur enthused.

The injuries to Smith and Croft came after scrum-half Matt Frawley suffered a bad cut to a hand, which led to substitute Morgan Gannon - a second-row forward - having a spell in the halves. Arthur reckoned the performance and the way his men responded to setbacks was “a big improvement from last week”.

He reflected: “Anything that could go wrong for us did, positionally. We lost Frawls, early - he had to have eight stitches. They tried to rule him out, but he toughed it out. We needed him to go back out there after we lost Crofty.

“Ganno went from the left, to the right, to the middle - all over the joint. Keenan [Palasia] had to play 65 minutes straight, as a middle-forward, a starting front-rower. That was a big effort and we had only planned to play Jarrod [O’Connor] for 20 minutes in his first game back from injury.

“They are the sort of wins that bring the group together and it’s also a bit of confidence for them. Salford are a good football side and they tested us. At the back end they made a couple of long line-breaks and we managed to get our whole team back behind the ball and get our line set.

“The contest was in our favour and done, but we still managed to do that. They are the bits that pleased me.”

With prop Mikolaj Oledzki unavailable because of concussion, Rhinos needed a big effort from pre-season signing Keenan Palasia. He played the opening 65 minutes and last seven and Arthur said: “He was pretty good - he took some tough carries, he has got good footy finesse - he understands the game good - and he got through a lot of minutes.”

Arthur also praised substitute Gannon and two-try rookie winger Riley Lumb. “He’s not a bad player, is he,” he said of Gannon, who missed the whole of last year after being concussed in pre-season.

“We don’t want to rush him, we need to be patient. That’s why he was on at second interchange, but he is working towards pushing for a starting spot. He can play a few different positions, he understands the game pretty good.”

Lumb got his chance when first-choice winger Maika Sivo suffered a knee injury in pre-season which will keep him out of the entire 2025 campaign. The 20-year-old was Sky TV’s man of the match and Arthur said: “It’s great for him, he’s a tough kid.

“He got a couple of things wrong defensively last week and a couple of things today, but he is learning. You don’t get experience unless you give them experience. He is going to have some days where he’s going to get a few things wrong, but it’s all part of his learning and developing.”