Still a good season, bad timing, what's gone wrong, Dream Team debate: latest Leeds Rhinos talking points

The regular season ended on a sour note with an 18-12 home loss to Hull FC last weekend and they finished four points adrift of Wigan Warriors, having been at or near the top of the table since Easter. Here’s five talking points.

1: Been a good season. Second in the league is Rhinos’ best finish for nine years, an improvement of two places on last season and six better than they managed in 2024. They led the table for much of the year and ended the regular campaign with the competition’s best attack, defence and points difference.

Maika Sivo and Brodie Croft were Super League’s top two try scorers, Jake Connor led the way in goals and points and six Leeds players were selected in the competition Dream Team. Win their next match and Leeds will be in the Grand Final and they are two victories away from being crowned champions. The last couple of weeks have put a damper on things, but by most standards, Rhinos have had a good season.

2: Bad timing. Unfortunately, the wheels seem to have come off at exactly the wrong time, with three defeats in the final five games of the league campaign, all of them at home. AMT Headingley was a fortress for the opening 10 rounds, but now top-six rivals will be licking their lips at the prospect of a semi-final there.

Of the three teams they could play, Leeds have beaten Warrington Wolves and Wakefield Trinity at home this year, but Leigh ended their 100 per cent record last month and - along with Wigan Warriors - are one of two sides Rhinos haven’t defeated in 2026.

A Wigan versus Leeds Grand Final no longer looks the certainty many pundits were predicting a couple of months ago and Rhinos’ record in knockout games is a worry, but they have as good a chance as anyone - if they play to their potential.

3: What has gone wrong? Execution let Rhinos down in a couple of games toward the end of the regular season and against Hull they looked dispirited following the heavy defeat by Wigan six days earlier which knocked them off the top of the table. Injuries have hit key players at a crucial stage in the campaign, with Danny Levi’s setback at Castleford costing Leeds two competition points and Keenan Palasia, Maika Sivo and James McDonnell also proving big losses.

Lachie Miller is crucial to Rhinos’ attack and his season-ending hamstring injury not only meant the loss of a pivotal player, but also led to another of the side’s best players being moved out of position. Even top teams have dips in form during a nine-month season, but it’s the timing of Rhinos’ which has proved so costly.

That said, they are still one home win away from Old Trafford, which would still have been the case if they’d reversed their three recent losses. The past few weeks will be forgotten if Rhinos go on to win the title.

4: Dream Team controversy. The fact six Leeds players were named in the 2026 Super League Dream team underlines how impressive they’ve been this year. Recent results have overshadowed it a bit, but the 13 was selected over the whole regular season, not the past month.

A case can be made for the likes of Wigan’s Jai Field and Bevan French and Isaiah Vagana of Wakefield Trinity and they would have deserved it if selected, but all the Rhinos players chosen are there on merit. Three of them - Lachie Miller, Brodie Croft and James McDonnell - were signed during Rohan Smith’s time as coach.

Smith’s recruitment has been criticised, but Miller and McDonnell, who was playing on loan for Leigh in the Championship before joining Leeds, have been inspired additions. It is McDonnell’s second successive Dream Team selection which shows how much he’ll be missed when he leaves for Perth Bears at the end of this season.

5: Wheel meet again. It’s still possible Rhinos’ will have three teams in Grand Finals this season. Both the men and women, who seem to have suffered similar form slumps at the same time, are one game away, but the wheelchair team have secured their place in the title decider.

Coach James Simpson’s side beat Wigan Warriors 76-34 in last weekend’s play-off semi-final and will take on league leaders Halifax Panthers at the National Basketball Performance Centre, Belle Vue, Manchester, on Sunday (5.30pm).

It’s a repeat of the Challenge Cup final from two months ago, when Rhinos were well beaten 92-24, but Leeds have had a smoother build up to this weekend’s game and with England captain Tom Halliwell back in the side after a long injury layoff, Panthers will have to play well to complete the treble.