Kiwi pack man Nathaniel Peteru leads from the front for Leeds Rhinos

Peteru was not selected for the Betfred Super League round-one defeat at Warrington Wolves, but has been ever-present since then and turned in a series of strong performances in the middle of the field.

He was again one of Leeds’ best when they were shocked 18-16 by visitors London Broncos last week, but admits he would swap personal accolades for points on the table.

“I have always said I wanted to play my best rugby in Leeds,” said Peteru who joined Rhinos from Gold Coast Titans ahead of the 2018 season.

“That is the reason I came here, to play my best rugby.

“I am at that stage of my career where I need to become a leader and that’s what I have been trying to do, lead with my actions.”

Peteru’s first season at Leeds was disrupted by setbacks, separate torn biceps muscles – on each arm – restricting him to just 13 appearances.

With some of Rhinos’ key forwards missing through injury, he has been gaining regular game time in the front-row this term and added: “It is good to be able to really focus on playing in the middle and nailing down that one position but, at the end of the day, you just want to win.

“Obviously from the team perspective it was disappointing not to win [last Friday], especially right at the death. In Super League that is what happens if you don’t play for 80 minutes.

“You can’t just come in and out of the game; you need a solid performance for the full-80.”

Rhinos trailed 8-0 at half-time against London, but hit back to lead 16-8 with six minutes remaining.

At that stage they seemed well on track for their second win of the campaign, but Broncos snatched victory through back-to-back tries, both from kicks. It was Leeds’ sixth defeat from their opening seven games and left them second from bottom in the table and facing the real prospect of a relegation battle. That is not where anyone expected to be at this stage under new coach Dave Furner and with five players having been brought into the club since the end of last season.

Peteru reckons there is still time for Leeds to turn things around and push up the table, but admitted they need to start picking up points soon.

“Super League is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” he stated.

“We just need to get back to winning ways and get back into that winning mindset and get back on that front foot.”

Rhinos visit Catalans Dragons, who won at Hull KR two days ago, on Saturday and then have a short turnaround to a Thursday-evening derby at home to in-form Castleford Tigers.

According to Peteru, Rhinos have to focus on getting their own game right rather than worrying about the opposition.

“This is Super League and every week it’s tough,” he warned.

“We need to get back to training, work on things and we really need to put in an 80-minute performance this week.

“And have the mindset to go and get the two points in Perpignan.”