Betfred Super League: Why Leeds Rhinos need to start upping the ante even though it’s early in the season

A positive performance in round one against Warrington Wolves was followed by a poor effort at Wigan Warriors and Rhinos will need a big improvement this week. Here’s five talking points.

1: Early days. Two rounds into a 27-game league campaign is too early to make judgements about how Rhinos will fare this season. The longer they go without a win, the more pressure will mount, but Leeds showed against Warrington and for 24 minutes at Wigan what they are capable of. At the moment, things aren’t quite going their way - Jai Field’s first try last week being a prime example - but presumably luck will change and Rhinos have to make the most of it when it does.

2: Not all bad. Rhinos began well; Blake Austin looked good early on, Liam Tindall was impressive and the starting props got on the front foot. But the way they went off the trails once changes were made and Wigan had scored was very alarming and some of the tries they conceded were soft.

3: Jack Walker. The full-back struggled, making some costly errors which led to tries. But that’s understandable in the circumstances; the Wigan game was only his second competitive appearance in 16 months and his comeback from a potentially career-ending foot injury won’t all be plain sailing. He’s a quality young player, though and will bounce back.

4: Discipline. Tindall became the fifth Leeds player shown a card in their last three competitive games and, with wingers David Fusitu’a and Ash Handley on the casualty list, that is a worry. That said, Rhinos conceded five penalties after three against Warrington, so they are doing a lot right, discipline-wise.

5: Richie Myler. The full-back/half-back is due to undergo surgery in London today and says he could be out of action for three months. That is a massive blow and the latest in a series of injury setbacks. Much was made in pre-season of Rhinos’ squad depth and now’s the time for players outside the top 20 to show their worth.