Sponsored by
Leeds Rhinos: We must keep our foot on the gas - Delaney
Consistency is what Leeds Rhinos want this season.
Rhinos begin their Stobart Super League title defence at home to Hull KR tonight and are going into the season as champions for the fifth time in eight years.
But – according to Aussie Brett Delaney – nobody in the camp is prepared to settle for a repeat of what happened in 2011.
Last year had a glorious finish, but Delaney admitted that for the most part it was a below-par campaign.
After winning their opening two matches Rhinos hit a slump which saw them lose five and draw one of their next six.
In July, with two-thirds of the season gone, Rhinos were in danger of missing out on the all-important top-eight, but a run of nine wins from their last 10 league and play-offs games saw them storm to the title, from fifth place on the league ladder.
That was Rhinos’ lowliest finish for exactly a decade and their 11 defeats was the most suffered since 2002.
This year the target is the top-two, which means cutting out the self-inflicted defeats, starting well and maintaining that form throughout.
“We want to get that out of our team, losing some games that we shouldn’t have done,” said Delaney, who is hoping for a long run in the pack this season.
“That’s the consistency we’ve got in mind. We will have to take every game like it is a final and hopefully we’ll be all right.
“We’ve got to make sure we don’t step off the gas and we play finals football every week.”
Rhinos’ poor early form last year was partly explained by a disrupted pre-season, with a change of coach, limited training due to the freezing weather and the absence of two key players – Danny McGuire and Jamie Peacock – because of injury.
It has been a different scenario this time and Delaney admitted that Rhinos have no excuses for not hitting the ground running.
“Brian (coach Brian McDermott) has been here a year so we know how he coaches and we have got our style of play now,” he said.
“Pre-season has been great. We have been tweaking a couple of things, but not too many. We are continuing how we ended last year, so we’re looking forward to it.
“It’s not going to be easy to stay in the form we were at the back end of last year, but we’ll just try and be consistent, that’s the big thing we will work on.”
Delaney admitted that a good start is vital this year, with a world title match looming in two weeks’ time.
“We’ve been slow the last couple of years, but we have got to start well,” he stressed.
“We’ve got a tough game this week, then we’ve got Wigan and then Manly in the World Club Challenge.
“We want to go into the Manly game with a couple of wins up our sleeve. There’s no time for us to get in a slump, we need to start flying high, nice and fresh and continue this in the season.”
Delaney joined Rhinos from Gold Coast Titans ahead of the 2010 campaign as a centre. He wore the No 3 shirt for his first two seasons at the club, but was awarded the No 15 jersey for this year.
After winning his first Grand Final ring as one of Rhinos’ starting second-row in last October’s triumph over St Helens, he is hopeful that his days in the centre are a thing of the past.
“I have been training there,” Delaney said of the second-row. “I think Mac is looking at me more of a back-rower now, which I am happy with.
“I think it will suit my style of play a lot more. I played all my junior footy there, so it is good to be back training there.
“It has been a while since I’ve been there, so I can’t wait.”
Competition in the back-row is fierce, but Delaney said he prefers to fight for his place there than to switch between roles.
“I haven’t worried about filling in in the centres, it has been all back-row or forward sub,” he said.
“I am enjoying it, it is like a new start for me. I am really looking forward to playing a few games to get me used to it.”
Leeds Rhinos from: Webb, Watkins, Hardaker, R Hall, McGuire, Burrow, Leuluai, McShane, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Ablett, Sinfield, L Smith, Delaney, Bailey, Clarkson, Hauraki, Griffin, Moore.
Hull KR from: McDonnell, C Hall, D Hodgson, Clinton, Withers, Webster, Dobson, Wheeldon, Taylor, Lovegrove, J Hodgson, Paea, Horne, Murrell, Mika, Netherton, Cox, Welham, Carlile.
Referee: Phil Bentham (Warrington).
Kick-off: Tonight, 8pm.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.