Leeds Rhinos fans make 'scary' warning to Super League rivals and remember tragedy of club's 'darkest day'

Ryan Hall bagged a brace of tries in a 46-4 hammering of Catalans Dragons and Rhinos backed up their sparkling attacking display with a strong defensive effort. That sets up a huge first versus fourth Betfred Super League derby with Wakefield Trinity at AMT Headingley on Friday. Here are the latest thoughts from our fans panel.

BECKY OXLEY

What an outstanding performance against Catalans. In my view, that was the best we have played since the game in Las Vegas. We were formidable in both attack and defence and the entire team was working together seamlessly.

The way we moved the ball from one side to the other and broke through the defence was electrifying. Scoring 102 points in the last two games demonstrates the strength of our attack. Brad Arthur emphasized the need to improve our defence after last week, which we certainly accomplished. For me, the man of the match had to be Cooper Jenkins. His contribution in the middle, driving the ball forward and distributing it, was exceptional.

Next, we face Wakefield and this promises to be a challenging match where our defence will once again be crucial to contain a lively team. I anticipate it won’t be straightforward, but if we maintain our focus, we should be able to secure another two points.

Congratulations to former Leeds coach Brian McDermott on his appointment to the England job. I am confident that, with his expertise, he will add significant value to the team. I look forward to seeing what we achieve this autumn and how many Rhinos players make the final selection.

IAIN SHARP

Some of you may have read about the new security and ID systems implemented at European airports. Clearly such systems affected the visit of Catalan Dragons as Leeds were 40 points up before the Dragons had collected their baggage and their performance had nothing to declare.

The second period in particular was a clinical demonstration of broken field running. Danny Levi burrowed over with the sort of sleight of hand that could get you membership of the Magic Circle, Cooper Jenkins swept in ‘just like that’ and we had a Brodie Croft 40-yarder. I would mention Maika Sivo, but he scores every week. The only minor blot was the sole Catalans try, but it was a much improved defensive effort.

Last Friday (April 24) was the 49th anniversary of one of the darkest days in our club’s history, the ultimate sacrifice of Chris Sanderson while wearing Leeds colours at Salford in the last league game of the 1976-77 season and a mere two weeks from his likely Wembley appearance in the Challenge Cup final. That triumph was later dedicated to his memory.

It is a salutary lesson for all of us on the fragility of life, regardless of us crossing the whitewash or not. Perhaps his family, friends and former playing colleague can take some solace that his memory is not forgotten in the South Stand and beyond.

DAVID MUHL

We are top of the league. I’m not getting too carried away, because it’s only round nine, but it is a very nice feeling. It was nice on Friday to be able to watch the game in shirt sleeves; the sun was cracking the flags, summer rugby was here at last and to celebrate, Leeds put on a Champagne show. It’s good to go to Headingley and watch not just a winning team, but an entertaining team.

There were good performances all round: Maika Sivo continued his fine scoring run and Ryan Hall on the other wing showed that whatever Sivo could do, he could do better. Cooper Jenkins was the pick of the forwards, especially in the second half - he was awesome, scoring a try on the hour followed shortly by a barnstorming run to put Brodie Croft in for his 11th try of the season.

It’s a long time since I’ve seen a proper hooker’s try from acting-half, but Danny Levi scored a belter; he’s settling well into the team and gives us a real balance to Jarrod O’Connor, whose defence is brilliant. Jake Connor and Croft are really clicking at half-back. Jake’s kicking is top-drawer and Brodie is running at defences more and distributing the ball to get the back-row moving well. Ash Handley is benefitting from this and playing some class rugby. I wasn’t convinced when Brad Arthur moved him to centre, I always thought he was an out and out winger, but I’ve been proved massively wrong. Our spine is A1: Lachie Miller is a real handful for opposition teams - and for once managed to keep all his kicks in the field of play.

It’s a big one this week with the visit of Wakefield, who are just two points behind us. They are playing some good rugby at the moment, despite a blip last week and always raise their game when they play us, but if we keep playing this style of rugby I’m sure the two points will be ours.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

Another week, another impressive performance from Leeds as they put in a ruthless display to defeat the Catalans Dragons and maintain our lead at the top of the Super League table. Over the past few seasons the Dragons have been something of a bogey team for Leeds so it was good to finally pick up a win against them and do it in style.

The main doubt about this Leeds Rhinos side was consistency. We know how good we can be when we are at the top of our game, but can we maintain this good form? As it currently stands, we are silencing the doubters. People will question the quality of the teams we have played so far, but Catalans at home is a game we slipped up in last season. On Friday, we were excellent in all aspects of our game, it was a dominant display and hopefully this will become the standard performance we put in on a weekly basis.

The scary thing for the rest of Super League is we could have easily scored more points with how slick we looked when we had the ball. One thing I have raised concern about was becoming reliant on Maika Sivo for tries, but 11 different scorers over the past two games has shown we have serious firepower from all areas of the pitch.

Looking ahead to Wakefield at home, this is another game that will test how consistent we can be, especially with Trinity already beating us this year in the Challenge Cup. Wakefield are no pushovers and it will be a tough game for Leeds, but with how good we have been performing recently and how impressive our home form is, I cannot see past the Rhinos picking up another two points and making it five wins in a row.

KATIE MARCZYNSKI

It sounds obvious, but before the game against Catalans on Friday I said we just need to keep winning and ignore what everyone else is doing. That’s exactly what we did and we find ourselves still at the top of the table.

I was confident heading into the match last week, but I expected Catalans to give us more of a game than they did. I got the impression Brad Arthur may have challenged the boys to keep our opponents scoreless, after last week’s comments around defence, so it was a shame they managed to get a try late on.

Each week I think about our best performers and it’s getting harder. I don’t envy whoever picks our player of the match. I initially questioned when BA moved Ash Handley from the wing, but he is making that centre position his own and should be in contention for the World Cup. Another player I had my doubts on was Chris Hankinson, but he has become one of our most consistent players.

There’s a real test for us at home again on Friday. Wakefield have become a bogey team for us in recent years and are showing themselves as this year’s dark horses. We’ll need to be at our best to beat them.