Leeds Rhinos boss tells players 'don't get comfortable' as Wigan Warriors warning issued

Betfred Super League round 11 began with Rhinos top of the table, four points clear of fifth-placed Wigan. Australian centre Jack Bird misses out this week, following knee surgery, but Leeds are otherwise at full strength and aiming to extend a five-game winning run during which they have scored 192 points.

It’s a rosy situation for Rhinos, but coach Brad Arthur insists the last thing they can afford is to feel satisfied with the current state of play. “We need to make the most of the position we are in and the way we do that is by not putting the slippers on and getting comfortable,” Arthur warned.

“We have had discussions around that. I do understand that luck plays a part in injuries, but also you need to work hard and try to put yourself in a position to minimise those injuries. The worst thing you can do is start to get comfortable and think you don’t need to do all the detail behind the scenes and all the simple things that put us in this position.

“That’s what we’ve really focused on, getting all the simple detail right with our off-field preparation and then that will carry on to the field. We have got a real good grip and handle of our team identity and what we stand for each time we pull on that Leeds Rhinos jersey. Now we’ve just got to make sure we keep putting finer bits of detail to it.”

While Wigan were involved in Challenge Cup semi-final action last weekend, Rhinos have had two weeks to prepare since their 40-22 defeat of Wakefield Trinity. Arthur said: “We had a good opportunity last week to get some run-load into them, some work.

“We trained nice and fast on the Wednesday and had a mentality session on Friday, followed by going out together for a bit of a social with the partners, then we had to sit through the disappointment over the weekend of not being part of it. That needs to be fuel for this week.”

Though Wigan haven’t had a break they will be buoyed by last Saturday’s 32-0 shut out of St Helens. The Cherry and Whites have lost four of their 10 league games so far, including shock home defeats by the bottom two of Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers, but Arthur isn’t fooled.

He insisted: “I’ve had a lot of admiration and respect for Wigan ever since I got here. Every team at some stage has a little dip in form and they might have had that for a couple of weeks, but you never write off the really good teams and good clubs.

“They have been at the top of it for a long, long time and that’s what we are expecting - their best performance. They are probably on the back of their best performance, especially defensively, the other day. They were tough and gritty, they are a good club - well run and well coached - and we are preparing to go with our best effort to match their best effort.”