Leeds Rhinos aren’t holding any hope of top spot rivals Wigan Warriors falling at the final hurdle.

Wigan will secure the Betfred Super League leaders’ shield if they win at home to Catalans Dragons tomorrow (Friday) evening, whatever second-placed Rhinos do at the same time against visitors Hull FC. Leeds led the table for much of the campaign, but fell two points behind Wigan following last Saturday’s 40-8 defeat.

Though Leeds’ superior for and against means they could still finish first if they beat Hull and Wigan are shocked by Catalans, coach Brad Arthur accepts that particular battle has been lost. “We were in control of our destiny and we are not now,” Arthur admitted.

Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur. Picture by Steve Riding.

“What we are in control of is our response on Friday. We know we’ve got a home final [semi-final] in two weeks’ time and that’s all we can worry about. Wigan are too good a team and too professional a club to let that opportunity slip.”

Third-placed Warrington - who take on visitors Toulouse Olympique tomorrow - are a win behind Leeds, but too far adrift on points difference to threaten second spot. Arthur, though, insisted this evening’s final game of the regular season is far from meaningless.

“There’s plenty of motivation,” he stressed. “We are still in a position where we’ve got one game to try and be at our best in a final to get to Old Trafford. That’s still the goal, nothing has changed.

“The immediate plan is about regaining how we play and our team identity against Hull, because we lacked that last week; for the first time at home this year we were out-muscled and out-competed.”

Tempers frayed during Leeds Rhinos' shock defeat at Hull FC in March. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

Rhinos will play host to the highest-ranked winners from next weekend’s elimination ties in a semi-final on September 25 or 26, with the victors going through to the title decider at Old Trafford on Saturday, October 3. After being unbeaten at AMT Headingley for most of the campaign, Leeds have lost their last two games there and Arthur emphasised: “We have been so consistent at home with how we play around our physicality and effort.

“It’s not that we didn’t try hard or didn’t try to be physical, Wigan were just better than us in that area. We’ve got to get to that standard.”

Hull are third from bottom, but won 24-16 when the sides met six months ago. They will want to send retiring former Leeds winger Tom Briscoe out on a high in his 400th and last Super League appearance and Arthur reckons they are a better team than this year’s results suggest.

He warned: “I know they are down the bottom in terms of wins, they’ve been in every game and made every game a tight contest. Last week [at Toulouse] they were down 30-0 and got it back to a position where they were in with a chance. They rattled us into a performance we weren’t happy with last time and they are only minus 115 on for and against – that’s pretty low for a team that’s down at the bottom.”