Leeds Rhinos talking points: promising signs, pack progress and why next 3 games are crucial

Rhinos travel to Warrington Wolves on Friday buoyed by a performance which produced positives across the park. Here’s five talking points.

1: The next three matches are huge for Rhinos’ season. The victory against Wigan means their start has been okay - three wins from five league rounds is neither outstanding nor disastrous and there’s still no real indication as to which way their campaign will go.

In patches over the past couple of years Leeds have looked set to push up the Betfred Super League table, but it hasn’t happened because of their inability to go on a winning run. Since the start of 2023, Leeds have managed three successive victories just twice, which is nowhere near good enough.

If that continues, they might just scrape into the top-six, but the aim has to be higher. Warrington away is obviously tough, at a side they lost to three times last year, but if Leeds play like they did against Wigan, it’s winnable. The two games after that are away to Salford Red Devils – again – and home against Huddersfield Giants. On current form, they’d be favourites for maximum points from those. If they can go into the visit of Hull KR in a month’s time on 12 points from a possible 16, they’ll have a really solid base on which to build their season.

2: There have been glimpses of what this Rhinos team can do and against Wigan, those signs lasted much longer than in previous games. It wasn’t perfect; after a very good first half, Leeds had a sky spell following the interval when some errors crept in, but it was the closest they have come to an 80-minute performance.

Leeds proved they can win a close game - which is important, given how tight the competition looks like being in 2025 - and it was also their first victory over a team above them on the table since an 18-6 defeat of Catalans Dragons at AMT Headingley on August 23 last year. Despite three losses this year - all in games they could and perhaps should have won - Rhinos are a developing team who are heading in the right direction.

The most encouraging factor is their defence. They’ve had 10-minute lapses in three games, but otherwise been tough to score against, so if they can eradicate those bad spells, they have a really solid base. Clearly, defence is important because Rhinos aren’t scoring many points.

That should improve as the season goes on because Leeds’ backline includes players who can create and score tries. At the moment the combinations aren’t quite firing, but once they do - if other aspects of their game continue as they are - Arthur’s side will be in a decent place.

3: The win against Wigan was the best Leeds’ pack have played as a unit under coach Brad Arthur and Mikolaj Oledzki getting back to something like the form he showed in 2021 and 2022 is good news for Leeds and England. Oledzki has had to carry too much of a burden over the past couple of seasons, but now has players around him who can help manage the load.

Keenan Palasia - big engine, hits and runs hard and can play with the ball - looks like an excellent addition and fellow ‘middle’ Cooper Jenkins has great potential, but the second-rowers have been unsung heroes in the games Leeds have won this year.

James McDonnell is a tireless worker and Morgan Gannon has shown impressive form so far - in various roles - after a year on the sidelines. Someone who doesn’t get the credit he deserves is James Bentley, whose bad boy reputation at times overshadows the fact he really can play. His discipline has been much better since he returned from a lengthy concussion layoff last summer and his ability to operate in the middle when required gives Arthur a valuable extra option.

4: It was a good weekend for Rhinos, whose scholarship team beat Hull FC 42-22 and academy began their season with an outstanding 24-4 victory over Wigan. Rhinos’ management feel a number of players in those sides - including some who featured for the first team in pre-season games - have the potential to make the grade in Super League.

Leeds tend to do best when they have a core of local - or home-grown - players in the team. The impact made by academy products Harry Newman, Ash Handley, Morgan Gannon, Mikolaj Oledzki and Tom Holroyd - and especially rookies Jack Sinfield and Riley Lumb - against Wigan bears that out.

5: Speaking of Sinfield, he has done a decent job as a makeshift hooker when called on this year and may get an extended run in the team during Andy Ackers’ layoff with a hamstring injury. He wasn’t the only offspring of a former Rhino to score at the top level last weekend. Kayal Iro was among the tries for Cronulla Sharks in their NRL win against South Sydney Rabbitohs. His father Kevin was a try scorer for Leeds in the club’s first Super League fixture, a 22-18 home loss to Warrington, 29 years ago next Monday. Leeds’ visit to Warrington on Friday will be the competition’s 5,000th game.