For Leeds Rhinos, a Good Friday derby at Odsal presents unique challenges and coach Brad Arthur is relishing them all.

Opponents Bradford Bulls are expecting the biggest crowd since their previous spell in Betfred Super League ended 12 years ago, their pitch is narrower than Leeds are used to and the hosts are unbeaten on their own turf this season. Rhinos - who ended Warrington Wolves’ 100 per cent start to the season just five days ago - could be daunted or excited by the prospect and Arthur has chosen the latter option.

“I am looking forward to this, especially being away,” he insisted. “It is a bit more hostile for you and these things hopefully bring out the best in players. We want to be a team that can beat a rival and back up performances.”

Arthur stressed: “We are aware [of the narrow pitch], but we are not changing how we want to play. We know how we want to play and what works for us and we are going to continue to play that way - we just need to be smart.

Leeds Rhinos' Brodie Croft celebrates with team-mates after scoring a crucial try in last Sunday's defeat of Warrington Wolves. Boss Brad Arthur wants to see a similar effort at Bradford Bulls on Friday. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

placeholder image — Leeds Rhinos' Brodie Croft celebrates with team-mates after scoring a crucial try in last Sunday's defeat of Warrington Wolves. Boss Brad Arthur wants to see a similar effort at Bradford Bulls on Friday. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

“I’ve noticed a lot of teams kicking off on the full; there’s a lot of little things like that which we are aware of, but we went to Las Vegas and the pitch was eight metres narrower. We didn’t focus on that, we focused on the style of footy we want to play.”

Bulls have won their three previous home games this season, against Catalans Dragons, Toulouse Olympique and Huddersfield Giants, but suffered a 40-28 loss at Castleford Tigers eight days ago. Both factors make them dangerous, according to Arthur.

“From what I have seen of Bradford, they move the ball around,” he said. “I think they are leading the competition for shifts so they are certainly going to challenge your line. They like to play an open, free style of footy and they play an entertaining style of footy.

Leeds Rhinos face a hostile atmosphere and narrow pitch at Odsal on Friday. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.

“We are certainly expecting that and we are expecting a really physical contest early. They are back at home and they’ll want to respond on the back of last week. That’s what we are expecting, a response to start with and a team that’s willing to move the ball and challenge us defensively.”

Arthur has named an unchanged 21-man squad from last Sunday’s 26-22 win against Warrington, but promised to “share the workload” among his players to reduce the impact of their short turnaround. “We came in on Tuesday and reviewed and recovered,” he said. “Wednesday was our normal minus-two day, a full day of preparation. Our last five-day turnaround, on the back of the Las Vegas trip, we probably didn’t do enough.

“We tried to cram everything into one day, so [this week] we had an extra day on Tuesday, then Wednesday was all about our preparation, not trying to review and prepare all in one day.”

The coach revealed that preparation has focused on “making sure we continue to be the team we were last week and the team we’ve been pretty good at being over the last 18 months”. The conquering of Warrington ended a two-match slump and Arthur warned: “We have to make sure we do that every week.

“You can’t pick and choose when you do it, you have to do it all the time. If you don’t, in this competition you will get found out. As tough as it is, that’s what’s required.”