'Panic time' approaching for Leeds Rhinos fans as Brodie Croft exit news follows loss to Wigan Warriors

A 24-4 defeat at Wigan Warriors on Friday raised doubts about Rhinos’ form in big games away to top-six rivals and news of Brodie Croft’s departure at the end of this season has added to their woes. Rhinos are off top spot in Betfred Super League, but have an opportunity to get back to winning ways against struggling Huddersfield Giants at AMT Headingley on Friday. Here’s what our supporters panel make of it all.

KATIE MARCZYNSKI

It was a classic Leeds performance against Wigan - and not the good kind. We were outplayed in every department and, despite a few decisions not going our way, poor discipline and silly errors were costly.

I’ve been holding off writing this for a few weeks, as I hate to single anyone out, but Ryan Hall isn’t good enough. In all the games we’ve lost this season, he has been targeted and proven to be a weakness. You could argue our other winger wasn’t much better on Friday, along with a number of others, but Hall’s defence and pace are often lacking and we concede a lot of tries down his edge.

Maybe this week’s visit of Huddersfield is a good opportunity to change things and give the youngsters a go. They say you can’t win every game, but being well beaten by close rivals makes me wonder how close we are to that top-four finish this year.

Lastly, a note on Brodie Croft. Like many fans, I’m bitterly disappointed he is leaving and has almost certainly signed for Warrington next season. I hope the club know what they’re doing. If Brad Arthur doesn't agree a new contract in the next few weeks, then it might be time to panic.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

Leeds’ five game winning streak and reign at the top of the league came to a crashing halt as Wigan got the better of us in a very one-sided game. It was a very poor performance from the Rhinos who never really got going.

I don't think Wigan set the world a light with how they played, but they managed the game a lot better than us, putting in a rugged defensive performance and shutting down our attacking threats. It was a very uncharacteristic performance from a Brad Arthur side, who were very soft carrying the ball and lacked concentration in defence.

This, topped with poor discipline and constant errors, meant it was a tough night at the office for the Rhinos. We gave Harry Smith all the time in the world and he punished us with every kick, which just isn’t good enough when playing the better sides.

While it still has been a positive start to the season, this was a massive test for this Leeds side, arguably the biggest since Vegas, but we fell very short of the mark. Consistency has always been a thorn in our side and it’s an issue we need to overcome if we are to take that next step and seriously challenge for silverware.

It would be good to get some insight into what Ian Blease is doing at the club. We now know we are losing a fifth first team player in Brodie Croft. While I get players will be drawn by the appeal of the NRL, we should not be losing one of our star players to Warrington. It finally feels like Leeds have some stability in the team, but all that good work has been undone very quickly by losing these key members of the side. Blease has a serious job on his hands replacing them all for the 2027 season.

DAVID MUHL

Trips across the M62 are rarely fun and this one was no exception. I travelled over with high expectations, but these were soon smashed as Leeds reverted to the unforced errors and penalties game plan. At least three, if not all four, of Wigan’s tries came off our errors. You can’t give quality teams like Wigan so much ball and expect to win.

I want to get something off my chest, with video referees taking an age at every try and captain’s challenge games are finishing later and later. It is not helped with the inability of Sky and the referee to kick off on time. I don’t think I’ve been to a game this year that has actually kicked at 8pm and it was midnight on Friday when I arrived home.

Back to the game, I didn’t in all fairness think Leeds played that bad, Wigan are a class team who are just getting back to their best. Lachie Miller was our best player by far, but I think there were other solid contributions, for example from Tom Holroyd. Ryan Hall, except for his unforced error, drove the ball out of defence well all night and Ash Handley had another good game. He was unlucky after chasing the ball almost 90 yards for it to bobble up into the Wigan man’s hands for him to score.

Maika Sivo kept his scoring run going, but was caught badly out of position several times and this is an area he needs to work on. But as Martin Offiah used to say, “if I score 20 and let in five, I’m still ahead”. Both our half-backs were quiet, but that’s not surprising as they were playing behind a badly beaten pack.

My biggest laugh of the night was when they announced the Wigan man of the match as Sam Walters. I hardly realised he was on the field. Harry Smith was their best player by far, he kicked us to death. It’s Huddersfield next up and if we don’t beat them, we might as well give up.

BECKY OXLEY

I am uncertain about how to evaluate Friday’s performance against Wigan. It is certainly not reflective of what we have come to expect in recent weeks. The only positive I can identify is that we managed to avoid finishing the match without scoring.

I disagree with Brad Arthur’s comments in the post-match interview, where he claimed our identity was strong and we put in a solid effort. There were numerous mistakes and unnecessary penalties that provided Wigan with ample opportunities.

As is often the case when our performance falters, people tend to blame the referee. However, as I consistently emphasize, we are ultimately in control of our own fate. The referee is merely one aspect of the game and we must focus on playing for ourselves rather than catering to the referee’s decisions. I did not observe any significant errors on the part of the referee and while it is easy to assign blame during a match, we must examine our own actions to understand why the whistle was blown.

This week, we face Huddersfield and on paper it appears to be a match where we should secure two points. However, we cannot afford to be complacent or replicate our performance against Wigan, otherwise Huddersfield will have every opportunity to capitalise.

IAIN SHARP

Swerving the delights of the M62 on a Friday night and the Orwellian nightmare of the road to Wigan Pier, instead I headed to the University of Hull’s sports ground for Hull FC reserves versus Leeds reserves. If you’re wondering where the like of Riley Lumb or Presley Cassell have gone, then I’ve found them. I’m old school and before Friday became the default match night for the first team, you could rock up, park on the edge of the cricket ground and watch a sprinkling of fringe players - including cult heroes like Normal Francis - and veterans play a competitive game for the A-Team (that was the reserves, not that thing with George Peppard in it) with the added benefit of it being free with a season ticket.

I’m struggling to think of the last stand-alone reserve game I’d watched. Hull’s ground has floodlights and merely a fence around it, with no stands, or anywhere to sit down and the teams were made up of academy-age lads. Leeds controlled the game well from the start and were 28-6 up at half time and eventually ran out 46-18 winners.

Obviously the crowd was mostly Hull fans, with a few folks encouraging Leeds. If you’re not happy with main side or don’t fancy the travel, you could do a lot worse than have a look where the reserves are playing and give that a go.

ALEX SHARP

ALEX SHARP

Wigan against Leeds is always a big event, however Leeds haven’t won there since 2023 and I travelled to the game expecting a defeat, given the news about Brodie Croft leaving and the fact Wigan kept St Helens to nil in the Challenge Cup semi-final. A week’s break might have stopped our momentum of the last few weeks and Wigan proved worthy winners, by 20 points.

Harry Newman returned for this game with Jack Bird missing due to injury and Wigan exposed that edge with two very good tries coming down that side. Conceding only four points against ourselves and St Helens shows Wigan are never to be written off.

For Leeds fans, it is not time to press the panic button yet, but hopefully whatever is happening behind the scenes can be sorted and Brad Arthur gets the best side out on the field, wherever anyone might end up next year. Maika Sivo got another try and I think a real dig at the Super League record is in his sights, as long as our season doesn’t derail with everything going on.

My overall thoughts are I was disappointed, but not surprised at the result. My top three performances from the game were three Lachie Miller, two Tom Holroyd, one Chris Hankinson.