Leeds Rhinos news: boss hails Jake Connor & Brodie Croft after win v Hull FC, rejects on-report concern

Scrum-half Connor was named man of the match after scoring one of Leeds’ six tries, assisting with three others and landing five goals. Croft, at stand-off, also crossed and created Rhinos’ second touchdown and with full-back Lachie Miller impressing, Rhinos’ spine is in good shape heading into the Betfred Super League play-offs.

Former Hull man Connor was top of the Man of Steel leaderboard when it went secret in June and is pressing a strong case for a call into England’s Ashes squad. Arthur said: “He’s doing a good job. They [tries and assists] are all the pretty stats, but I just like how he’s controlling the game.

“That’s the important thing for us at the moment. He’s learning to build the game. Our [fourth] try, we didn’t quite get the looks we were after, but instead of pulling the trigger he just kept getting the boys to break it down - another tackle and another tackle, we got to the last play and he put the kick on the money.

“That just shows you his evolution as a game manager, whereas maybe even five or six weeks ago if we didn't quite get to where we needed, he was still trying to play every play. That’s a credit to where the spine is at as well. I think they've really start gel over the last month.”

Connor’s form has allowed Croft to go under the radar, but Arthur insisted: “He is doing a really good job, playing a really good support role. He’s a threat with the ball, he’s running and doing a lot of work with his communication on where the ball should go and often he has put his ego aside and knows he’s not getting the ball because he knows it needs to go in the other direction if teams are marking up on him. Physically, he has been really good for us. He has been really good defensively and with his effort areas.”

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Rhinos’ win guaranteed a top-finish and lifted them to third in Betfred Super League. They were disrupted before the game when Keenan Palasia, who was set to start at prop, withdrew because of a knee problem. Presley Cassell retained his place in the starting side and loan signing Joe Shorrocks, originally the 18th man, came in on the bench for his debut.

They also lost centre Max Simpson to injury in the second half, but Arthur stated: “We’re really good at our responses at the minute around any little bit of adversity or just getting on with the job. I thought our 10-15 minutes were a bit flat and tired, not lethargic, but we didn't have the same energy levels we’ve been displaying. So credit to the boys, they showed plenty of character and they just hung in there and hung in there and once we got that [first] try, they found a bit of energy from it.

“That’s what good teams need to do. You’re not always going to be at your best, it’s a long season and we've been working pretty hard. We had three sessions this week and probably worked them a bit hard for this stage of the year, but it’s good for our mindset and mentality. Now we can start to focus a bit more on getting ourselves right recovery-wise for each game.”

After a tight opening quarter, Rhinos scored four tries in 11 minutes to take full control. Arthur reflected: “We just needed that spark and energy and once we got that, there’s a lot of belief there. You saw that in that period and we have the ability to put some back-to-back tries on pretty quickly which can help in the context of the game. You can give yourself a bit of breathing space quite quickly when you do that.”

Shorrocks was placed on report in the first half over a possible dangerous tackle, but Arthur felt there was nothing in the incident, stressing: “Contact was above the knee.”