Leeds Rhinos fans say 'we're good enough to win Grand Final' but big improvement needed v St Helens

While a couple felt it was a poor effort in a dull game, others were encouraged by the way a depleted side competed over the 80 minutes. All agree though, Rhinos will have to be on top form to beat bogey club St Helens in Saturday’s elimination tie at AMT Headingley.

BECKY OXLEY

My first thought at the final whistle was ‘it could have been much worse’. Overall, we defended quite well and maintained a satisfactory result. When I saw the teamsheet, I was bracing for a heavy defeat. In reality, we were set to finish in fourth place anyway, so there was no reason to risk players getting injured.

For me, the emphasis wasn’t solely on the Wigan match, but rather on the entire season compared to the last few. Achieving a 66 per cent win rate and finishing fourth in the league is a significant accomplishment. Regardless of what happens in the game this week, we have much to be proud of and look forward to next season. The fact we have secured Brad Arthur for 2026 indicates he believes in us and we have more exciting times ahead.

I’m looking forward to Saturday night against St Helens, although it won’t be an easy challenge. Saints always seem to have the advantage over us and are one of our troublesome opponents. However, we will have players returning, including hopefully Jake Connor and Lachie Miller, whose kicking and attacking skills should serve us well. If we can pull ourselves together, we could be just 80 minutes away from another Grand Final.

DAVID MUHL

Trips over the Pennines are not always enjoyable and we have had some horror visits to the land of the pie eaters over the years, but this wasn’t one of them. Although we were on the wrong side of the scoreline, it was anything but a poor performance.

Missing several key players, Brad Arthur had to reshuffle and bring in some of our youngsters. There’s no doubt we missed Jake Connor - our attack was a bit blunt for most of the game, but Jack Sinfield deputised and showed some good touches, especially the involvement he had in our try.

We started the first half well and were probably the best team early on. One thing BA has brought in this year is intensity in the pack. This was on show against Wigan and will put us in good form going into the play-offs. In the past, Leeds teams would have packed in once we went 22 points behind, but not the boys of 2025. They kept going and were rewarded with the last try of the game, well-taken by Chris Hankinson following a lovely break from Sinfield.

The coach trip home wasn’t at all gloomy with most fans happy with Leeds’ performance, if not the score. It’s a big couple of weeks for the club; the reserves, deservedly won their title decider, played in typical Grand Final weather. George Brown caught the eye with a man of the match performance and certainly looks a good prospect.

The women were in their semi-finals, but unfortunately came up against a very good Wigan side and the academy have their Grand Final at Warrington this weekend. Hopefully a good crowd will be at Headingley on Saturday for our play-off game, which I’m confident we will win.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

While for many fans Friday felt like a pointless fixture due to Leeds already securing a top-four finish, Brad Arthur called on those who were fit enough to play to the same standard we have come accustomed to this season. However, the team we put out fell short of the mark and limped to defeat in a very one-sided contest against Wigan.

It was always going to be a tough fixture, especially when we were missing a bunch of key players and Wigan were at full strength. Having said that, I feel the team we had out should have done better than we did.

The performance was not as poor as the one against the Dragons, it just felt very flat and underwhelming throughout. It was as if the players themselves bought into the fact there was nothing really to play for. The most worrying part for me is how toothless we look in attack with no Jake Connor or Lachie Miller. Momentum is vital in sport and with the play-offs starting this week, going in on the back of two losses does worry me.

Looking ahead to our first - hopefully not last - play-off fixture, it doesn’t get much bigger than hosting St Helens at Headingley. The aim for this season was to get back in the play-offs and it's a massive plus to get a home game. We can’t let this season’s efforts go to waste.

At full-strength, which Arthur has confirmed we should be, Leeds have shown we can beat anyone. Saints have proven to be a bit of a bogey team for us this year so we will need to be at our best, but in front of a packed Headingley crowd, I back Leeds to rise to the occasion and put us within 80 minutes of Old Trafford.

IAIN SHARP

Apparently, the only person who was ever happy to go to Wigan was George Orwell, via the Road To Wigan Pier, and even then someone had to bung him 500 quid to make him go. Sadly, the travelling faithful last Friday had to pay for their own trips over there.

An accident near Hartshead Moor meant some fans were stuck on the M62 and brought others’ creative navigation skills to the fore. Also seemingly stuck on a hard shoulder somewhere were half of Leeds’ first-choice team, sadly struck down by that mystery illness ‘playoffitis’, which has also been known to appear the week before a semi-final or Wembley. That told the fans it was a dead rubber, without anyone actually saying so.

I think Leeds scored somewhere near the end, what Eddie Waring used to call a consolation try, but most of us who didn’t go had long since switched off, the game being about as depressing as Orwell’s book. Still, the phoney war is over and play-off footy is back. This is where it starts to get interesting again.

GAVIN MILLER

The lack of forward intensity at Wigan on Friday night showed me Leeds weren’t interested in the game, with a home play-off already secured. They wanted to protect themselves and go into the play-offs fit and ready to go.

Hopefully, with players back, they will be fresh and ready to take on St Helens, as it’s not going to be easy. Play-off rugby is a different proposition and Leeds need to be focused and ready to go to war. Saints are up and down this season so we don’t know what to expect; we only know they have beaten us twice already and we need to change that narrative to push us towards Grand Final glory.

I do think this team is good enough to get to a Grand Final and ultimately win the trophy, but everything has to go for us between now and then; if players are fit, tactics spot on and performances top-class, we are in with a shout. Any of those things drop, then the possibility of glory drops too. It’s not called the business end of the season for no reason.