Veteran Kallum Watkins reveals what Leeds Rhinos must improve to end Warrington Wolves' unbeaten run
Veteran forward Kallum Watkins admits this is a “massive week” for Leeds Rhinos after back-to-back defeats.
Last Sunday’s 24-16 loss at Hull FC followed a 22-14 reverse by Wakefield Trinity in the Betfred Challenge Cup and those setbacks have taken the gloss off what had been a positive start to the season. Things won’t get any easier on Sunday when Rhinos attempt to become the first team to defeat Warrington Wolves in any competition this year.
The match comes 30 years to the day after Super League’s inaugural fixture when the short-lived Paris St Germain club beat Sheffield Eagles in France. Leeds lost their first game of the new era 22-18 to Warrington at Headingley two days later and Watkins admitted they’ll need a significant improvement to avoid a repeat in the anniversary rematch.
Watkins said: “It’s a massive week for us. We were disappointed [last Sunday]. Full credit to Hull, I thought they competed really well and took their tries really well, but we didn’t help ourselves, especially in the second half.
“There was too much ill-discipline and that put us under the pump and under pressure and Hull made the most of that. We have got plenty of work to do and we’re doing that coming up to the Warrington game, which is going to be a tough one.”
Warrington, who have a game in hand on most of their rivals, boast a 100 per cent record after four Betfred Super League matches, are second in the table and routed Castleford Tigers 72-6 last Saturday. Giving them the amount of possession and territory Rhinos turned over against Hull would be a recipe for disaster and Watkins accepted: “I think that was the issue.
“The ill-discipline was disappointing and something we need to look at and hold ourselves accountable for. We have to work on it, but that’s part and parcel - it is still early in the year and there will be ups and downs throughout the season. It is about how we respond and sort it out.”
Coach Brad Arthur described the result and performance last weekend as a “reality check” and Walker stressed: “We had the highs of Las Vegas and coming back, teams are after us and they all want to put a good performance in. Each team is going to play well, so for us it’s about what we do and what we focus on and making sure we are doing everything right and everything possible to put ourselves in better places and better situations in games. I think we let ourselves down last week and you can’t do that against any team in Super League, or you will lose.”
Though Rhinos’ 58-6 win against Hull KR in America a month ago raised expectations, Walker insisted that result doesn’t matter now. “It’s a long season,” he added. “That was a massive event, but we have got to move forward and move on and we have got to get better. It’s as simple as that. The only way we do that is through ourselves and how we perform. It’s all on us to put it right.”