Leeds Rhinos boss makes 'didn't meet expectations' admission after 26-0 win at Huddersfield Giants
A “flat” mood in camp after Leeds Rhinos’ 26-0 win at Huddersfield Giants reflects the club’s high standards and expectations, coach Brad Arthur says.
The clean sheet was Rhinos second in six days, following last Saturday’s 34-0 result at Hull FC, extended their winning run to five matches and made them favourites to finish at least third in Betfred Super League. Even so, Arthur revealed: “We are all a bit flat after that performance.”
The team boss said: “We set high standards and expectations and we didn’t quite meet them. It was a five-day turnaround, we can look for excuses if we want, or we just say we didn’t play well enough, or at the standard we wanted to.
“Credit to the opposition too, I really felt like they had a crack. They were physically good and they got stuck into us. I’m not trying to be disrespectful to the opposition, but that was just the feeling from the boys - a bit flat after the game when they first came in. They got a bit jovial after that and we have got to enjoy the win. It’s hard to do.”
The major positive was Leeds’ defensive effort. They have not conceded a point in the first half of their last four games and leaked only two tries during that run. It is the first time Rhinos have kept successive clean sheets in Super League and Arthur insisted: “It could be three or four games, really.
“We only had one try scored against us by Hull KR late in the game and Castleford late in the game. We were quite annoyed with those tries we let in, so defensively we have been very, very good, but we can’t afford to keep sapping our petrol tank the way we have been.”
Arthur insisted “attitude” is the main ingredient in Rhinos’ mean defence. He said: “Whether you’ve got good defence or bad defence, it’s a reflection of the attitude, want and desire. Scramble has been good, the systems are good - they understand them and work together. If someone comes outside the system or gets something wrong at some stage, you’ve got someone covering their back, which is really good.”
He added: “We’ve done a really good job restricting their metres out of red zone. Probably the only field position they got throughout the game was when we made an error and gave a penalty away on the back of it. We talked about our discipline tonight and we were probably a bit off there.”
It was a big night for 20-year-old centre Ned McCormack who came into Leeds’ starting side for his first Super League appearance since suffering a hamstring injury in July last year. He had played only 40 minutes, in a reserves game at Castleford three weeks ago, after being given the all clear and Arthur said: “Ned did a good job.
“He got a couple of things wrong and that’s part of his experience and education. You’re not going to get everything perfect, but he kept going back at it and back at it so there’s some good signs for him there. Probably the biggest positive for him was he got through 80 minutes, which was handy.”