Leeds Rhinos boss says 'we beat ourselves' but reveals 'easy fix' after shock loss v Catalans Dragons

Leeds needed a point to secure a top-four finish in Betfred Super League and home advantage in the first round of the play-offs, but their five-game winning run came to an end as they produced one of their poorest performances of the campaign. It’s still possible Rhinos will play at AMT Headingley in the end-of-season series, but they are left hoping Leigh Leopards beat St Helens today (Friday).

That would see Leeds drop below Leigh into fourth, but maintain their four-point advantage over fifth-placed Saints with one game left. Victory for the Merseyside outfit would keep Rhinos in third, but Leigh and Saints could both overhaul them should they win their final match - against lowly Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers respectively - and Leeds lose at Wigan Warriors next Friday.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arthur was more concerned with the way his side played than the state of the table. He insisted: “We just need to worry about getting a decent performance out and trying to get back on track going into the finals.”

Reflecting on Leeds’ second loss of the season to Catalans, Arthur said: “It’s frustrating, we’ve seen a couple of those performances this year. Our losses look the same - we’re in positions where we probably can win the game, but we find ways to lose it.”

He admitted: “We got a lot of moments, lots of big plays and lots of execution wrong. It’s disappointing because I don’t know where it has come from. I felt like a couple of guys tried too hard.

“When we get frustrated we’ve got to learn to relax and calm down and get back into a bit of a cycle, but we keep chasing and trying to force the issue. We have to learn to be more patient and build away at it. We can’t beat ourselves, because that’s what we did.”

The Leeds boss stressed: “I’m not taking any credit away from them. They flustered us, frustrated us, scrambled hard and turned up. They fought really hard and made some last-ditch tackles on the tryline to stop us. That led to frustration, rather than just chipping away at it.”

Arthur remains confident his side can make amends at Wigan next week. He added: “We’ve been good at responding and that’s all that matters now, the response. We’ve had performances like that and come out the next week and been really good. It’s a pretty easy fix, we just need everyone to do their job and not go above it.

“It’s hard to be positive after a performance like that, but we know the team we have been for the majority of the year. That one game is not a reflection of us and we need to make sure of that next week.

“If that had been consistent, it would be an issue, but it hasn’t. We know what works for us; we didn’t have field position in the first half, we had plenty in the second, but we chased the scoreboard. Any time we’ve chased the scoreboard this year, it hasn’t worked out for us.”