Leeds Rhinos have 'plenty to work with' after win v Hull FC, but coach reveals point they still need to prove

Rhinos completed back-to-back wins thanks to veteran winger Ryan Hall’s touchdown less than two minutes from time, after they had trailed 10-0 and 16-4. Leeds remain fourth in Betfred Super League ahead of next Saturday’s derby at Castleford Tigers and Arthur reckons they are taking “small steps”, but he stressed there’s still a long way to go.

“It certainly makes me comfortable we have plenty to work with,” Arthur said of his team’s memorable fightback. “That’s a bit of a reward for how hard they’ve worked in the pre-season, but it’s round 11.

“We have got to keep doing it every week. Wigan do it week-in, week-out, Hull KR do it week-in, week-out. We haven’t proved we are that team yet. That’s what we have got to prove.”

Rhinos played better in recent agonising late losses to Warrington Wolves and Hull KR, but Arthur admitted winning a game in such dramatic fashion “helps with your belief”. Hull looked to be in total command when they went 12 points clear, but Tom Holroyd celebrated his new contract with a try and Riley Lumb cut the gap further before Hall’s magic moment.

James McDonnell’s sixth try of the season, on the final play of the opening period, got Rhinos off the mark and the coach said: “In a long season you’ve got to be able to win from in front and when you’ve been behind.

“We put ourselves in an awkward position in the second half when we turned the ball over, turned the ball over and they put a kick up which was going dead for all money and hits a post [leading to a try]. You might say they got a bit lucky with it, but they got their luck on the back of executing their plan better than we did.

“But we stayed strong, we were nice and tough and that resilience was pleasing for me. We showed that in the last game too [against St Helens]. We had a try disallowed and couldn’t quite finish them off, then we did with a couple of minutes to go - which we couldn’t the week before against Hull KR. They are all small steps forward and at least we are not up and down, up and down at the moment. We are trying to be nice and consistent each week.”

Friday’s game saw co-captain Cameron Smith make his return from an ankle injury suffered in February. He was among the substitutes and got on the field for 31 minutes either side of half-time.

Arthur was pleased to see him back, but feels he will get better with more match action under his belt. “Cam was okay,” Arthur said. “I think he will want to be better than he was in his first game back, he got a couple of things wrong in defence, but he is a handy addition to our team, certainly.”