'I'm going to make the most of it': Leeds Rhinos' Tom Briscoe keen to bow out on a high

Friday’s elimination play-off at Catalans Dragons will be Briscoe’s fourth game since returning from a four-month injury layoff and could be his last competitive fixture for Leeds, if they lose.

The 32-year-old, who needs one try to reach 150 in Super League, has touched down 93 times in 205 appearances for Rhinos, but was not offered a contract for next season.

“Being here nearly 10 years, it has been a long time and the majority of my career,” he reflected.

“It is going to be a sad last few weeks, but on the flip side of that I am going to make the most of it and enjoy what time I have left at the club and around this group of players.”

With wingers David Fusitu’a and Ash Handley both injured and centre Harry Newman having not played for almost a month, Briscoe’s return has been timely and he is “pretty happy” with his form.

“Going through that time and seeing how well the side are going, you are wondering whether you’ll get back in the team or not,” he admitted.

“Fortunately, I’ve played in all the games I have been available for so to come back and put in some good performances, considering the break and the lack of training, I’m pretty happy with that.”

Of where he will be playing next term, Briscoe said: “I am just concentrating on this year and I’ll wait until the end of the season.”

Whatever happens in the play-offs, Rhinos’ 2022 squad will have one last game together at Headingley on October 8, against New Zealand’s World Cup squad.

Briscoe confirmed: “I think I will be playing in that. I played in 2015 when we played them and it would be a good way to finish off, but we’ll see what happens first.”

A win on Friday would leave Rhinos just 80 minutes - away to St Helens or Wigan Warriors next week - from the Grand Final.

“From where we were mid-season, losing a coach and being near the bottom of the table, for us to get back into the play-offs is a great achievement in itself, but we don’t just want to be there. We definitely want to challenge and make a good push,” Briscoe insisted.

Finishing fifth means Rhinos face two ties away from home against teams above them on the Betfred Super League table.

Leeds have lost only two of their last 11 games - both in France - but Briscoe reckons they need to play better to have a chance of reaching Old Trafford in two weeks’ time.

“It’s going to be really tough and we are fully aware of that,” he said. “The last two performances haven’t been where we need them to be in order to do anything in these play-offs.

“We know we need to put our best foot forward. We got the win last weekend, but we left it late and the performance wasn’t good enough. Going forward, into Friday, we know we need to be better.”

Leeds trailed 8-0 with less than 10 minutes left against Castleford Tigers last Saturday, but a penalty goal followed by two converted tries turned the game on its head.

Both sides looked tired and Briscoe said: “It was probably a bit of everything. The last few games have been condensed into a couple of weeks, we’ve had short turnarounds and a trip to Catalans.

“There was maybe a bit of nerves with what was at stake, but again this week there’s going to be everything to play for.

“We need to put that game to bed and make sure we are firing this week, which again is going to be tough, to go over there and beat Catalans.”

The play-off is Rhinos’ third trip to Perpignan in 42 days. They won there 36-32 in golden-point extra-time on July 30 and were beaten 32-18 on August 29.

Briscoe played in last week’s game and felt a 15-minute spell, when Rhinos didn’t touch the ball and conceded four tries, was the difference between the teams.

“We started pretty poorly,” he recalled. “They got out to a good lead, we were just slow out of the blocks.

“We fixed that and ended up winning the second half, but we need to be in a better position at half-time in order to go on and win. We need to come out of the blocks firing, because we know Catalans will.”