Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur happy with squad, says 'all signs are positive' but issues pressure warning

Rhinos will have their first pre-season hit-out when Wakefield Trinity visit AMT Headingley for the annual Wetherby Whaler Festive Challenge on Boxing Day. They face Wigan Warriors in Ash Handley’s testimonial game a month later before competitive action begins with an away Betfred Challenge Cup tie two weeks after that.

Five new faces will be on show in the Christmas fixture - against the team Rhinos meet in Super League round one on February 15 - and 10 members of last season’s squad have moved on. “A couple of extra numbers would be nice,” Arthur conceded of the current group. “But Bleasey [sporting director Ian Blease] has done a really good job with our squad, the changes we have been able to make. We probably had a targeted approach about bringing in quality rather than just trying to bring in too many. They make our squad stronger.”

The boss reckons Leeds have enough good young players on the fringes of the squad to fill any gaps arising during the season and feels they will benefit from having the new faces around them. He said: “It’s good for the young guys, because when you’re putting them out there now, hopefully you are putting them out around some quality. It is easier for them to learn in the systems if they are playing with a good level of quality.”

Arthur, who took charge in July, accepts last year’s eighth-placed finish was not good enough for a club of Rhinos’ stature, but praised the players for the standards they are setting in pre-season. “It is easy for them to get comfortable and drop off, but they haven’t,” he said.

“I haven’t had to drive that, that players are leading that, in [co-captains] Ash [Handley] and Cameron [Smith]. We have got a lot of senior players in the team without having a leadership group. Crofty [Brodie Croft] is a good talker, Frawls [Matt Frawley] is good at driving standards and Mikolaj [Oledzki] and Ryan Hall as well.

“I have seen all the right things at training, but I have reminded them it doesn’t matter what you do on the training field. They are only going to get judged on what they do when they play.

“We can have some really good weeks and play poorly. Sometimes you can have a bad week at training, but if you can get the job done on the field that’s all that really matters.

“All the signs are positive and we are doing all the right things. Attitude is good, but we haven’t been put under any pressure yet and we haven’t played a game. Once we are under a bit of pressure, we’ll know a bit more about how we are travelling.”