Inside Rugby League: How Leeds Rhinos have been transformed under Rohan Smith

That’s a sentence nobody expected to read - or write - back in April when only points difference was keeping Rhinos off the bottom of the table with a quarter of the season played.

The transformation since then, begun under interim-coach Jamie Jones-Buchanan and carried on by team boss Rohan Smith, has been remarkable.

From 11th on the ladder, Rhinos climbed to a finishing position of fifth before winning last weekend’s elimination play-off at Catalans Dragons.

That performance was everything Rhinos weren’t in the opening months of the season: Resilient, tough, composed and clinical with their limited number of chances.

Only one player, Zak Hardaker, has come into the group since the dark days of late winter, when Rhinos’ shambolic displays suggested they were in genuine relegation danger.

The injury situation has improved, but it is largely the same group of players who have taken Leeds to within 80 minutes of Old Trafford - away to Wigan Warriors on Friday - after the poorest start to a season in the club’s history.

Those players need to take a look at themselves and consider why they were under-performing so badly early in the campaign. Some of it was because of injuries - Richie Myler in particular was badly missed - but it was obvious the men on duty were capable of producing much more than they were showing in the heat of battle.

Having steadied the ship when he took over in 2019, won the Challenge Cup the following year and taken Leeds into the play-off semi-finals at the end of last season, coach Richard Agar was no longer getting the best out of his troops.

That’s a coach’s job and he took responsibility when he stepped down in March, but the men on the field were also accountable. It clearly wasn’t a happy ship, the team didn’t seem to be enjoying their rugby and, while the effort was there, Leeds lacked composure and had a nasty habit of falling apart whenever something went against them.

Last week in Perpignan, Rhinos - missing several of their most influential players - refused to be intimidated in an incredibly hostile environment. They kept calm, didn’t crack when things went wrong - for exemple Aidan Sezer’s disallowed try and Catalans’ touchdown straight after half-time - and clearly enjoyed the challenge.

It will be fair to judge Smith only after a full pre-season and with a squad he has put together, but the gamble Rhinos took by offering him his first job as an elite level head coach has paid off spectacularly so far.

Defence and attack, though that hasn’t been at its best for the past few matches, have both improved and Rhinos are playing as a team, rather than a group of individuals.

Smith has shown a willingness to give young players a go and to keep faith with them if they make mistakes. He is prepared to take risks and is not afraid of making big decisions, for example leaving Brad Dwyer out of last week’s lineup. A finger would have been pointed had they lost, but the win meant the gamble paid off.

Players, for example both first-choice halves and forwards James Bentley and Zane Tetevano, have settled down and started to play the sort of rugby they are capable of and Smith is getting the best out of youngsters like Jarrod O’Connor and Liam Tindall.

Smith hasn’t tried to fit square pegs into round holes, but when players have filled in out of position, they have clearly known their job and been able to carry out the game plan.

Most impressively, Smith is willing to adapt, make changes if necessary and put things right. Rhinos have lost five times under Smith. On the three occasions they’ve met the opposition again, they’ve won each time.

After the league defeat in Perpignan at the end of last month, when Rhinos were overrun through the middle, he made team and tactical changes last week and they worked.

Whatever happens at Wigan this week, Rhinos as a team are ending the season in much better shape than seemed possible a few months ago.