Leeds Rhinos expecting Wakefield Trinity's best as 'don't get bored' warning issued for Challenge Cup clash

Leeds lost two of the sides’ three encounters last year, including a dramatic 15-14 result at DIY Kitchens Stadium, Belle Vue, in July. Trinity have had a mixed start to 2026, winning two of their opening four Super League games, but Rhinos boss Brad Arthur warned: “They are building.”

He said: “They have had a bit of disruption around the team and blokes in and out, but I think they are getting close to having their full team on the park. I went and watched them last week [a 14-10 home win against Hull FC] and one thing I do know is they’ll be up for the challenge as they always are.

“I have come to learn very quickly the rivalry between the two teams. They played their best footy against us last year and we are not expecting anything less.”

Leeds are on a three-match winning run, having scored 126 points and conceded only 24 in the process, but Arthur reckons the key to cup progress is sticking with what they are good at. “I don’t want to see us get bored with what we are doing,” he insisted.

“We know what works for us and I feel like we are owning our moments better this year. That was a thing we focused on and practiced through pre-season and our response to when we have a bad moment is better.

“In the last couple of weeks our last 10 minutes has been better in terms of not conceding any cheap points or getting a bit loose. I know there was 20-25 minutes at the end of the game the other day [against Castleford Tigers] when we didn’t score a point, but that wasn’t a real priority for me - it was the way we went about what we did.

“It’s just a matter of not getting bored because we are doing it over and over. Hull KR won three trophies last year by doing the same thing every week.”

Arthur stressed: “You’ve got to work out what works for you. We’ve worked out what we think works for us, now it’s just about doing it all the time. You are going to face different challenges and some days it is going to feel a bit easier than others. Some days it is going to be tough and when it’s tough you have got to toughen up with it, stick at it and believe in it.”

Rhinos haven’t reached the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup since 2020 when they went on to beat Salford Red Devils in the final. That was also their last Cup victory win against top-flight opposition, but - with a virtually fully fit squad - Arthur accepts there are “no excuses” for another failure tomorrow.

“We are in a good position,” he stated. “We have got a good squad and we understand how we want to play. We understand it is make or break, there’s no second chances. We just need to go and play our game, believe in what we do and go and give ourselves our best shot at it.”