Leeds Rhinos boss makes 'out-coached' admission, warns of threat from 'proud' Salford Red Devils
Leeds Rhinos’ Brad Arthur admits he “maybe got out-coached” in last week’s defeat by St Helens.
The 6-0 loss saw Rhinos drop from third to fifth in Betfred Super League, but Arthur is expecting a positive reaction against bottom club Salford Red Devils at AMT Headingley tomorrow (Friday). “Our response all year has been very good,” Arthur said at his weekly preview press conference today.
“I was disappointed for the players last week, but I wasn’t unhappy or cranky with our performance. It was a good game of footy in terms of physicality and effort from both teams. We just got frustrated. We can take some good lessons out of it. Maybe I got out-coached with their tactics and maybe we hadn’t done enough work to be ready for them. Our response is really important.”
Leeds have beaten cash-stapped Salford twice in away games this season, but the Red Devils picked up their second win of the campaign with a 26-22 defeat of Castleford Tigers last Sunday and Arthur insisted: “The team we’re playing against should be really proud of what they’ve done this year.”
The club’s financial crisis has cast a cloud over their season - and led to the departure of a host of experienced players - but Arthur stressed: “Results haven’t gone their way but they have approached everything at 100 miles an hour and had a real crack. The two times we’ve played them, they have come after us with a lot of energy and tried their backsides off.
“It has been a disjointed year for them in terms of positional changes, but we know they are going to come with the right attitude and will try to put us off our game. We are prepared for that and have respect for what they’ve done this season.”
Salford’s 21-man squad includes forward Toby Warren who is on loan from Rhinos. He is contracted to Leeds until the end of next season, but linked up with the Red Devils in April as part of the deal which brought Kallum Watkins back to Rhinos.
Arthur said: “I don’t know what their plans for him are, but I know he has played a couple of times in the centres and he has been in the back-row. It is good for his development, week to week getting in the grind and that physicality and having to back up. He is gaining some valuable experience out of it, which you can’t give young guys from training.”