Leeds Rhinos fans upset by 'worst performance' as Castleford Tigers fight back after Danny Levi injury

Leeds led 16-0, 20-4 and 30-16, but were unable to withstand a powerful fightback by their near-neighbours. The YEP’s Rhinos fans jury had no doubt about what changed the game and, despite some good individual performances, were left frustrated by the team’s inability to hang on. Here’s what they made of Leeds’ fourth loss of the Betfred Super League campaign.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

Leeds produced their worst performance of the season by a country mile as they let Castleford come from behind to take the two points. The turning point was clearly the injury Danny Levi suffered as we failed to get going again after that and the Tigers took full advantage.

It was a very uncharacteristic performance from the Rhinos under Brad Arthur as we were sloppy with the ball and soft without it all afternoon. I would argue we massively underestimated our opponents and allowed ourselves to take the foot off the gas. Jake Connor was nowhere near his usual best and it’s a common theme that when he doesn’t play well, Leeds don’t. I’m not sure what Jack Bird offers to the team as he was ineffective all game and produced multiple errors during crucial parts of it.

Arguably the only players in a Leeds top to come away with any respect were Brodie Croft and James McDonnell. They both continued their fine form with another two tries each and did their best to try and stop a humiliating defeat. I have criticised Croft in the past for going missing in games when it matters, but this season he has truly stepped up and looks like he will be a bigger loss for Leeds than first imagined.

Looking ahead to Bradford this Sunday, we have to prove the Castleford defeat was a blip. It will be tough as the injuries are starting to stack up, but with the quality we do have available and at home in front of a big Headingley crowd, there is no way we should be losing to the Bulls.

BECKY OXLEY

I always anticipate a Cas derby and a large crowd, combined with a sunny afternoon, creates the perfect atmosphere. Scoring within the first minute and achieving a 100 per cent completion rate in the first half is a rarity, showcasing our attacking flair and our ability to maintain possession.

Just when I think I’ve seen everything from Maika Sivo, he surprises us with another outstanding try. Many supporters have commented this season that he excels only in close-range scoring, but his near full-length effort was remarkable. He was unstoppable and demonstrated his strength down the wing.

You could hear Cas coach Ryan Carr on the Sky footage urging his players, trying to motivate them to perform. However, I found it frustrating when Danny Levi went down injured and he was shouting “challenge it” regarding the incorrect play-the-ball. To me, that felt extremely disrespectful and unsportsmanlike and it was unnecessary at that moment.

In the second half we appeared more disjointed, but injuries can disrupt game plans and positions, which complicates matters. Cas also came out in the second half determined to win, which is typical in a local derby. While it’s disappointing, we will focus on next week’s match against the Bulls and regroup. We remain at the top of the league and maintaining that position will be our priority.

DAVID MUHL

Well, what can I say about that? Gutted, disappointed, let down, upset - all those emotions and more. It didn’t help, to be honest, that I was sat with Castleford supporters due to a ticketing mess up and boy did they enjoy rubbing it in.

I thought it was business as usual as we were scoring at a point a minute early on, then it all went wrong. I think the injury to Danny Levi really knocked it out of the team; seeing your mate carried off on a stretcher on oxygen can’t have been nice and we seemed to go to pieces after that.

Castleford are a strange team, one minute they can’t put two passes together and the next they’re playing like a top of the table team. To be fair, they always raise their game against us and as soon as they saw a weakness, they exploited it. Despite the loss we saw the best try Maika Sivo has scored so far. It was worth the admittance alone.

Brodie Croft continued his try scoring run and James McDonnell had a good game, as did Lachie Miller. We’ve been lucky so far with injuries this year, but we are now starting to get some and it will be interesting to see how we cope over the next few weeks.

We’re still top of the table so it’s not all doom and gloom. Let’s hope it’s only one loss and we are back to business as usual from now on. Bradford next up at HQ and let’s hope we’ll all be dancing on the pitch in celebration after the game.

IAIN SHARP

Given the TV coverage of the game at Castleford, this piece is best read with someone screaming in an Australian accent in close proximity as you go through what I have written. The defeat was disappointing to say the least, especially when Leeds led convincingly midway through the first half. You shouldn’t be 16-0 ahead against your local

rivals and end up losing.

While Leeds have got to the stage of leading the competition, the next step is to eradicate the times when the team take their foot off the gas and allow the opposition back in

to it. We conceded 22 points away to Huddersfield, 24 against Toulouse and 16 to Bradford at Magic. In all of those games we could and should have buried the opposition.

Sooner or later something like that is going to come back and punish us, as it did at the weekend against our near-neighbours, playing in their annual cup final.

While we have generally been injury-free this season, we’re now also starting to get the usual knocks and niggles that can put a team off their stride, none more so than Danny Levi,

carried off with a nasty knock. I hope that was merely precautionary. It’s Bradford this week, another local rivalry and a chance to put things right.

KATIE MARCZYSNKI

I’d like to start by wishing Danny Levi a speedy recovery. It’s never nice to see a serious injury, especially to one of our own players, so it was a relief to hear he has been given the all-clear.

Unfortunately, I do think Levi going off changed Sunday’s game. We really struggled without a recognisable hooker on the field and it all seemed to fall apart from there. We started the game in full control and looked comfortable, but by the end of the first 40 we looked a completely different side.

I’d hoped half-time would stop some of Castleford’s momentum and it seemed to as we started well after the break, but our opponents kept themselves in the contest and were the deserved winners at the end of the day. It’s a shame our winning streak has ended, but maybe we needed a reminder that no team is unbeatable, especially going into a run of what I’d see as ‘should win’ games.

The good news is we know what we need to work on heading into Sunday’s game against Bradford. For the first time this season we have a number of key players out through injury, so let’s see how good our squad depth is.