Leeds Rhinos fans say 'times are good' but Super League leaders' defence must improve ahead of tough run
It has been a good few days for Leeds Rhinos.
A 56-22 win at Huddersfield Giants returned them to the top of Betfred Super League and they stayed there after close rivals Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors both slipped up. Brodie Croft stole the show in Leeds’ victory against Giants, scoring a career-best four tries. It was also a memorable evening for Ryan Hall, who notched his 250th try for Leeds, while Jarrod O’Connor and Tom Holroyd were two other players who impressed the YEP’s fans jury. Here’s what our supporters’ panel made of it and their thoughts on Friday’s home clash with Catalans Dragons.
ALEX SHARP
Friday night at the Accu was an enjoyable one, even if Huddersfield scored before Leeds had their hands on the ball, after Lachie Miller kicked dead from the kick-off. It was an enjoyable watch and a great performance, but I was happier with Brad Arthur’s press conference when he said he was disappointed in the defensive effort towards the end and silly mistakes.
Brodie Croft, a player I have spoken about many times this season, stepped up again, crossing for four tries. Jarrod O’Connor seemed to play a lot more direct than in previous games and maybe the partnership with Danny Levi in training is helping him develop even more as a hooker, After a blistering run from Tom Holroyd he got his reward with a deserved try.
I was very happy with this performance and it will give us a platform to build on. Looking at other fixtures in the league this week, a big win against Catalans Dragons on Friday could benefit Rhinos massively. Warrington play Wigan and Wakefield play St Helens, meaning a win for Rhinos will see them two points clear of third and four ahead of fourth, but for now the times are good and we are ‘top of the league, ole ole’.
BECKY OXLEY
A match filled with firsts resulted in a decisive victory over the Giants. It was Brad Arthur’s 50th Leeds game, Ryan Hall’s 250th Rhinos try and Brodie Croft’s first time scoring four tries in a game, including his inaugural hat-trick. I approached the game with some scepticism, uncertain if we might stumble and anticipating Huddersfield could catch us off guard.
Within two minutes they managed to score, prompting us to accelerate our performance. We were passing the ball fluidly from left to right and back again, with players stepping outside their usual roles which highlighted the team’s adaptability and our cunning nature.
I am truly enjoying our current style of play. We are unafraid to experiment and modify our approach. BA’s continued emphasis on areas for improvement indicates we are not complacent and must keep evolving.
Next up is Catalans at home, and I am eager to see our next moves. I also ponder whether BA would thrive in the England coach role if he was to be appointed. I suspect this will reignite discussions in the media week after week regarding future developments.
IAIN SHARP
And so to Huddersfield, birthplace of the Northern Union and, more recently, the team that wanted to enhance the sophistication and kudos of Super League, by attempting to have a ground built on Gasworks Street. Luckily for the home team, Leeds’ travelling support managed to co-ordinate their timings well, rather than leave it up to the locals’ suggestion of ‘what time can you get here?’
The real highlight on field was Brodie Croft’s four tries in what might have been his best all-round performance in Leeds shirt as the Loiners dished out an almighty stuffing. There must also be a mention of Ryan Hall joining that elite list of those Leeds players scoring
250 tries for the club. It may not have been one of his classics, but they all count.
While much has been said about Huddersfield’s injury crisis, so bad a field hospital was set up behind one of the benches, this was approaching their full-strength side. A concern for Brad Arthur must be the number of tries we shipped against a side who even at their best should be still inferior to Leeds. Like the proverbial painting of the Forth Bridge, things are never perfect for a coach and there will always be something to work on. Back to the dizzy heights of top of the league and Catalans Dragons at Headingley on Friday.
DAVID MUHL
Top of the table after eight games and playing some very entertaining rugby, I’ll take that. Friday night was a good performance by the boys; I know Brad Arthur wasn’t happy with some of our defending, but I’ll accept a few lapses in concentration when we’re playing that style of rugby.
There were some outstanding performances. Brodie Croft, rightly, got a lot of the plaudits for his four tries, all of which were brilliantly taken, but Tom Holroyd was awesome. He took on the opposition pack with real aggression, especially in his first stint and set the platform for the whole team.
Jake Connor’s kicking game was out of the top drawer; he moved the team round the park and set the pace and style of the game. The player I’m most impressed with this year is Cameron Smith. I think he is playing some of his best rugby at the moment. Wakefield will be rubbing their hands about him joining them next year.
It was nice to put on a big score against Huddersfield, we have struggled against them in recent years; they always seem to raise their game more than most against us and were on a two-match winning run before playing us. What we need now is consistency. I don’t think there’s a team in the league that can match us when we play that type of free-flowing rugby.
There were several milestones passed on Friday. Ryan Hall scored his 250th Leeds try and in a completely different style to most of his previous 249. It was a try a prop-forward would have been proud of, carrying three defenders 10 yards to score.
BA coached his 50th game for us, hopefully many more to come. We have Catalans and Trinity next up, both at HQ and both will be tricky games. Catalans had a good win against the Wire so confidence will be high and Trinity are in good form.
TOM GOLDSWORTHY
Leeds Rhinos produced an impressive away performance at Huddersfield, putting 56 points past them on our return to the top of the table. The Giants came into the clash with some momentum after winning their previous two games, but Leeds did well to nullify that threat and put in a ruthless performance, especially after going behind in the first minute
One concern for me, which I’m sure will be shared by plenty, is the 22 points we conceded against a poor Huddersfield side. All the tries we conceded were very avoidable and it is not the first time we have looked soft in defence this season.
Brad Arthur has done a wonderful job at tightening our defence since he has come in so we know how solid we can be. We just seem to be lacking concentration at times this year, which hopefully we will iron out as the season goes on.
On the flip side, our attack was immense as we dominated Huddersfield and took advantage of some really shoddy defence. Every time Leeds had the ball we looked dangerous and showed the full range of our firepower, which is shown by the multiple different try scorers we had.
Jake Connor has picked up from where he left off last season and Friday night was no different, pulling the strings in attack and producing three try assists. However the real star of the show was Brodie Croft, who scored four tries and has had a strong start to the season. I have previously said we need more consistency from our number six and he is finally delivering.
Looking ahead to Catalans at home, it is a game we should be winning if we are serious about finishing first in the league. We have shown we have the quality to battle at the top, now it’s time for us to find some consistency and maintain this good form we are in.
KATIE MARCZYNSKI
After the worst possible start, I wasn't expecting such an emphatic victory. Two minutes in I’m sure Huddersfield thought they were on track for a third successive win, but we soon changed that.
Our attack on Friday night was unreal. Our spine is really clicking and, most importantly, our attitude is improving week by week. A start like that might have previously seen heads drop and players capitulate, but we stayed calm and got on with things. We finished the game with a completion rate of 89 per cent; if we continue to complete at that level, any team will struggle to beat us.
I agree with Brad Arthur’s comments that we leaked too many tries - something we do far too often. Our defence is good enough that we shouldn’t be conceding 20-plus points in games we win.
Of our next five fixtures, four are at home. While we have some tricky games - Wigan, Saints, Wakefield - this is our opportunity to consolidate our place as, dare I say it, title contenders.
We welcome Catalans on Friday, who did us a favour by beating Warrington last week. Hopefully that has taken it out of them and we can finish the round as we start it - top of the league.