Hitting rare heights, Sam Lisone's future & how good's Lachie Miller: Leeds Rhinos talking points

A golden-point win over Huddersfield Giants, after they’d trailed 26-6 with 17 minutes left, took Rhinos briefly top of the table, but they’ve been nowhere near such heights in the intervening seasons. Five years ago, Rhinos fell from grace in their following game when they were thrashed 48-0 by St Helens, but they look to be made of sterner stuff now. Here’s five talking points following the 26-6 win at Castleford Tigers in Betfred Super League round 12.

1: Rhinos are clearly a different team now to the one which struggled for form and consistency over the past couple of seasons, but there’s still a long way to go, particularly with ball in hand. Up to now, Leeds have managed 242 points in Super League, which is a far from spectacular 20.16 per game. Four clubs have scored more, but Leeds boast the second-best defence with 133 conceded, at an average of 11.08.

If Rhinos can maintain that over the second half of the campaign, they won’t be far away from the final shake up. Coach Brad Arthur’s first job was to make them hard to beat. That has been accomplished and now the defence is sorted, they can work on their attacking game.

Disruption to the spine - full-back and the halves - hasn’t helped, but Rhinos have enough quality on offence to be confident they will improve, Realistically, Wigan and Hull KR are still playing at a higher level, though Rhinos have beaten the former this year and were the better team in defeat against the latter, but the gap is closing.

2: It’s fair to say there aren’t many rugby league players like Lachie Miller. Last year, his first with Leeds, was a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous as he combined moments of outstanding quality with some basic and highly frustrating errors. At times, he looked like a rugby union sevens player who had been thrown into Super League.

It has been a different story so far this term and he is establishing himself as a genuine Super League star. Despite missing the first four rounds because of injury, he is eighth on the Man of Steel leaderboard and his stats from the Castleford game are worth highlighting: 24 carries, 316 metres at an average gain of 13, two try assists and no errors. And he’s going to get better as combinations develop.

Under Brad Arthur’s coaching, Miller has cut out the errors and brain explosions, without losing his natural attacking flair. Of all the players out of contract at the end of next season, he must be near the top of the list for a new deal.

3: What now for Sam Lisone? Up until around a month ago it seemed the New Zealand-born prop would reach the end of his contract this autumn and slip away. However, Lisone’s impact has been growing over the past few weeks and he was almost unstoppable against Tigers, coming off the bench to score a brace of tries and wreaking all sorts of havoc on the opposition defence. In that sort of form, there aren’t many better replacements in the competition.

After the game, Arthur hinted Lisone’s departure may not be a done deal and if he maintains current form, he’s certainly an asset to the squad, though consistency is the most important factor. He is a popular character around the club and has enjoyed being at Leeds, but his partner Georgia Hale plays in the southern hemisphere National Rugby League Women’s competition and personal reasons could determine his future even if Rhinos want to keep him. It seems more likely than not the former Gold Coast Titans man will head back to Australia after this season, but the signs are, if he does go out, it will be with a bang.

4: Lisone was part of a huge Rhinos bench against Castleford, alongside Keenan Palasia, Tom Holroyd and Cameron Smith and all four of them made a significant contribution. It makes his job harder in one regards, but Arthur is in the rare and enviable position of having more fit and in-form players than places in the team. Cooper Jenkins and James Bentley have each missed one of the last two fixtures and somebody else will be rested for Saturday’s visit of Wakefield Trinity. With Andy Ackers on the verge of returning from long-term injury, Rhinos are as close to full-strength as they are ever likely to get. This obviously won’t last, so the team need to make it count.

5: Ryan Hall’s try against Tigers was his 343rd in the British game, taking him above Mick Sullivan into 19th place on the all-time list, just four behind Paul Newlove. That is a remarkable achievement and, at 37, Hall’s still one of the best wingers in the competition. He will be playing on next year and rugby league fans - not just those of Leeds - should enjoy him while they can, because players of his quality don’t come along very often.