'Not good enough' says boss after Leeds Rhinos' season ends in loss at Hull KR
Boss Brad Arthur admitted Leeds Rhinos “beat ourselves” as their frustrating season came to a disappointing end in a 26-16 defeat at Hull KR on Friday.
Rhinos led twice in the first half, which finished 10-10, but an error-ridden start to the second period cost them any chance of ending the year on a high. Leigh Leopards’ win over St Helens meant even a victory would not have been enough to secure a place in the play-offs and Leeds dropped to eighth on the final table when Catalans Dragons won at Hull FC on Saturday.
Rhinos ended the year on 28 points, from 14 wins and 13 defeats. Arthur insisted: “There’s good signs moving forward for us, but the fact is we are not playing finals [play-offs] and that’s not good enough. We have to be playing finals.”
Reflecting on Friday’s performance, Arthur admitted: “It’s disappointing, at the start of the second half we beat ourselves. The effort was there, I’ve said to the boys, I’ve had 10 games and in nine of them they’ve really had a crack and tried to do the right things, but we have a habit of beating ourselves.
“We turned over too much possession early in the second half. The last 10-15 minutes was probably what we needed to do in the first 10 minutes, graft, grind away, get some field position and then you find your way over the tryline.
“We have got to learn from it, but I am extremely grateful to the club for the opportunity I’ve been given to come over here for 10 weeks. The players have been terrific in terms of the buy-in, trying to improve and get better.
“They want to win for the club. We have got a long pre-season ahead of us and some work to do, but I am happy with our attitude.”
Twenty-year-old full-back Alfie Edgell scored a sparking solo try for Leeds, but also made a couple of mistakes which led to the Robins scoring, including one just before the break. The emergence of Edgell and winger Riley Lumb, 19, has been one of the positives from a poor campaign and Arthur cleared the youngsters of blame.
He said: “There were some errors from the back-three, but how can I be critical? They are kids and they are learning their trade; their effort was there and they’ve done a good job. It is part of the experience they are going to get.”
Asked what he’d say to Edgell after the game, Arthur stressed: “Nothing today. It will be part of his review moving forward for pre-season. The kid was everywhere and he wants to win. He did more good things than bad things, but some big moments at times in games come back to bite you. I’m sad for him because he did a lot of good things.”