Kevin Sinfield so proud of Leeds Rhinos in defeat

Rhinos were beaten 26-14 by Catalans Dragons in an elimination tie at Warrington last night, ending a campaign which saw them win the Coral Challenge Cup and finish fifth in Betfred Super League.

“I am really proud,” Sinfield said

“The club, our support base and our sponsors have shown in every way they can they absolutely believe in what we are doing and are fully behind us.

“The squad is as close as they’ve been for a number of years, the players like each other and the trust and honesty is back.”

Sinfield felt Rhinos had “a real dig” in last night’s defeat, which came after they trailed 18-0 inside the opening half an hour.

They also lost props Ava Seumanufagai and Mikolaj Oledzki to head injuries in the first half, reducing them to 15 available players.

“I thought we gave ourselves too much to do,” Sinfield said.

“There’s an old saying ‘you don’t win big games early on, but you can certainly lose them’ and I thought that was very true.

“Losing Ava and Mikolaj made it really tough, but I thought our effort was outstanding.

“At times our skill was off and we made some errors that invited Catalans to attack us, but I am certainly proud of our efforts.”

Sinfield stood in at last night’s post-match press conference for coach Richard Agar whowas self-isolating and unable to attend the game.

“It hasn’t been easy, but there’s no excuses from us,” Sinfield said.

“It’s not why we lost the game, we lost because we gave them 18 points start.”

Catalans will visit St Helens in the semi-final next week, the day after Wigan Warriors play host to Hull.

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