Leeds Rhinos fans blast ref after loss to Warrington Wolves, admit top-6 hopes over

Our panel were less than impressed with referee Chris Kendall’s handling of Rhinos’ defeat by Warrington Wolves at Magic Weekend. They’ve also questioned Leeds’ performance, the venue at Elland Road and the future of the event as a whole.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

The third game of day one at Magic Weekend 2024 saw the latest instalment of the Chris Kendall show come to town. I felt he made multiple errors on the night which swung all momentum in Warrington's favour and the decision to sin-bin Lisone was a baffling attempt to regain some control of the game that he lost. Referees should be held accountable for their performances; it is no good issuing Leeds an apology once the game is done.

That being said, Leeds did not do enough on the night to win. We missed Brodie Croft as we failed on multiple occasions to make our possession pay. It was a close knit game, we were missing that little bit of quality to get us over the line and that has been the story of our year. The signs of improvement are there, but unfortunately you don't get points for that.

I enjoy Magic Weekend as a concept. It is a showcase event that highlights the community element of rugby league and it should be celebrated. However, this year did not feel very magical at all. The atmosphere was dull and the minimal entertainment put on was lacklustre. I think the RFL need to have a big think on how to proceed with this event as 2024 at Elland Road was not the one.

Looking ahead to Catalans, we need to win to keep our slim play-off hopes alive. The Dragons’ form has been as inconsistent as ours which makes it difficult to predict who will come out on top. However, our home advantage will pay off and we will bounce back after Saturday’s disappointment.

DAVID MUHL

It felt strange watching a magic weekend on TV. The best result of day one was definitely London beating Hull, but I thought the Leeds-Warrington game was the highest quality. Leeds were the best team in the first half, showing good defence and some bright spots in attack. They were unlucky to go into the half-time break 8-0 behind following a crunching tackle on Lachie Miller where he was not able to keep hold of the ball, plus a debatable offside penalty under the sticks.

This was not the last of the controversial - and dodgy - decisions given by the referee. Two sin-binnings, Dave Fusitu’a and Sam Lisone, were never sin-binnings for me. Fusitu’a simply got tangled with the Warrington player; a penalty yes, but nothing more.

This followed a knock on the ref didn’t give and a perfectly legal one-on-one ball steal that Rhyse Martin was penalised for. Ash Handley was unlucky not to go over for a try, great Warrington defence denied the winger a score.

However, Warrington scored at regular intervals in the second half to take the win and make Leeds’ play-off hopes unlikely. I don’t think the poor refereeing performance decided the result; Warrington were the best team, just, but the scoreline didn’t reflect the effort Leeds put in.

There were good performances from Jarrod O’Connor, Rhyse Martin and Harry Newman and it was good to see Paul Momirovski go in for a try which was an excellent example of player communication between him and Martin. Martin put in a perfectly-judged kick and Momirovski timed his run to perfection.

I think under Brad Arthur we are showing real improvement and if we continue in this vein, we will win more than we lose. Let’s just hope Salford, Saints or Catalans have a meltdown.

IAIN SHARP

In pretty much every season, there’s a game that’s a close defeat, a game that’s a close win, one where there’s an absolute stuffing and one where the result is unduly influenced by the referee. I think you can guess which category last Saturday’s defeat to Warrington falls into.

The performance of the match official should not, in a perfect world, unduly affect the outcome of the game. I am not suggesting that Leeds should have won, but the score was far wider than it should have been. As I have suggested before, the performance of match officials should be subject to reasonable post-match scrutiny, a second look to see what, if anything might have been missed.

If a side is not awarded a penalty for over an hour, that should get the alarm bells ringing. To quote the Roman philosopher Cicero ‘any man can make mistakes, but only a fool persists in his errors’. In other words, you are never going to get improvement in performance if those mistakes aren’t analysed and highlighted, with the referee made aware and with the potential to improve in the future, as well as to suffer consequences if they don’t.

Elland Road is a lousy venue for Magic Weekend, with slightly fewer attractions around it than the International Space Station; distant from the city centre and with seating that makes the budget airlines envious in terms of (lack of) leg room. I declined the offer of paying for the privilege of eight hours of my knees under my chin this year.

The weekend gives mixed messages. At Newcastle, for example, endless Magic Weekends up there have hardly helped the beleaguered local RL club. If it is a celebration of the local culture and nightlife, then why kick off the last game on a Saturday, so it is virtually impossible to get a meal post-game, or the last train home?

A lunchtime (12pm), early afternoon (3pm), late afternoon (5.30pm) format would be far better on both days. Leeds have tended to be the last team on (on either Saturday or Sunday), which for me was a turn off.

While there is a suggestion IMG are trying to kill the concept, there are also rumours flying around of either a return to Newcastle or even somewhere like Dublin or Paris as a venue for next year. Croke Park (capacity around 83,000) in Dublin is walkable from O’Connell Street in the heart of the city. The major problem with a weekend like this overseas would be the logistics of getting everyone (40 000-plus) there and where to stay when they arrived. The airlines and ferry companies would be rubbing their hands together and bunging up the fares seconds after it was announced.

Perhaps rather than just organising the game, the RFL/IMG need to look at not just the matches, but how to get everyone there and back at a reasonable cost - charter flights, block bookings on the ferries, day trips and so on. Then might it be worth doing.

BECKY OXLEY

Magic Weekend was held for the first time at Elland Road and, after Saturday’s experience, I hope it is the last. As a wheelchair user, I’ve never been treated so badly and a long email will be on its way to the RFL in the coming days.

Sitting next to two Wigan fans, though, we had some real banter and this is what I love about the game. We can have that rivalry, but also enjoy a good laugh together.

As for the game, Leeds were beaten and the ref was really bad. I usually say you can’t blame the ref, but in this game I don’t know what he was seeing and doing.

It’s unusual for the coach to comment post-match, but Brad Arthur did and let’s hope he doesn’t face the RFL’s wrath for it. I was looking through Twitter/X and even former ref Richard Silverwood was being critical of Chris Kendall.

We were scrappy in parts, but overall we were in there and showed some good attacking and defence. I think the top-six is just out of reach for us now. Ten points are still up for grabs so it’s still possible, but I think we need to continue to build well and look to next season.

GAVIN MILLER

There was something quite exciting about squeezing into the Kop at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m no Leeds United fan so I think it was only the second time I’d ever been in that stand, the first being for a FA Youth Cup final a long time ago.

But despite the lack of leg room and the tight fit to your next seat neighbour, being able to use safe standing in a terrace with great acoustics and a vibrant atmosphere in the great city of Leeds, watching Leeds Rhinos, was pretty enjoyable. I watched the Saints-Wigan game before our game, which wasn’t great. Saints looked cooked and Wigan not a great deal better, but I’d still back either of them in a Grand Final if they get there and play either of the other contenders for the league leaders’ shield, Hull KR or Warrington.

Sadly, Leeds are not competitors at the moment. It’s old ground and I’ve said it over and over again this season, so I’m not going to repeat myself; all I will say is if we are to compete again, looking forward to next season, a lot is going to depend on if we keep Brad Arthur and if he is able to do a full makeover of the team and replace between six and 10 players.