Leeds Rhinos coach makes '17 Jarrods' call for big clash v Catalans Dragons as O'Connor reaches century

O’Connor, 23, will make his 100th Rhinos appearance when Arthur’s side aim for a third successive win and their first in Perpignan since the 2022 play-offs. O’Connor made his debut against Catalans at AMT Headingley five years ago and has missed only one game - this year’s Betfred Challenge Cup tie against Wests Warriors, when he was ruled out with a knee injury - since April, 2022, when Jamie Jones-Buchanan was caretaker coach.

Catalans have lost their three Super League fixtures so far this term and Arthur is expecting his team to face a hostile reception from local fans. Speaking at his pre-match press conference today, he said: “I have heard it is pretty vocal and what I am looking forward to is seeing the reaction from our players.

“I want to see that from the start. We have got Jarrod playing his 100th Leeds Rhinos game so we have got plenty of motive and want and desire to perform for him as well. The things I am pushing around the choices the players make, Jarrod is all that.

“He is a competitor so we are looking for 17 Jarrods tomorrow night - 17 competitors. That’s what he brings to the team, that energy. He gets a few things wrong here and there, but I love his intent and purpose and he is getting better at making sure when he gets emotional and full of energy he continues to make right decisions for the team.”

Leeds haven’t scored in their last two games at Stade Gilbert Brutus, a fact Arthur admitted he has regularly been reminded of since the team landed in the south of France on Thursday. “We are up against a team that’s going to be desperate and going to start hard and fast, but these sort of trips can help win your season and they can galvanise,” the coach added. “It is up to us, we’ve got no excuses.”

After losing to Wakefield Trinity in round one, Rhinos have built some momentum with victories at Salford Red Devils and against Castleford Tigers at Headingley last Sunday. Speaking immediately after that game, Arthur was “not pleased” with his side’s performance after seeing them concede 18 points in the final quarter.

But having reviewed it, he said: “Overall, our game was pretty good. It was just 10 minutes of some concentration lapses. It wasn’t a physical thing, we weren’t tired - it was more a concentration thing and blokes staying focused for a full 80 minutes. That’s what we are after.

“We want to be a reliable team. It doesn’t mean you win every week - being reliable - but we want to be that team that looks the same all the time and is very reliable from the first minute to the 80th minute and still have the same principles and mentality about how we want to play.

“That disappointed me [last week], but what pleased me was when I went into the sheds, I didn’t need to be over-aggressive with my criticism of them because I could tell they were disappointed. It felt like a losing sheds, which was a good sign for me.”

Arthur stressed “we still want to play some good football and entertain”, but pointed out: “We fell over the line seven times last week, so we scored some good tries. They did that on the back of building pressure and sticking to the style of footy we want to play, which is high possession, low penalty count and a really disciplined approach. That is a framework which allows them to go on and be a bit more creative and chance their hand a bit. You need to have a platform to build off to do that.”

The hosts’ poor start might make Rhinos favourites, but Arthur reckons Catalans’ results so far are irrelevant. “Them being zero and three is not a reflection of the team,” he warned. “I thought last week against Leigh they started really well and probably got an unlucky call for a try, which might have given them a bit of confidence to kick on.

“I thought in the first game against Hull they played some good football and got a bit unlucky and they were right in the contest against Warrington. They are back at home and if you look at them on paper, they are a very good squad. Three rounds in, what the ladder looks like at the moment is not a real reflection of all the teams.

“They are a good team, they are well-coached and they know what they are doing. They’ve got some NRL experience there, they’ve got some power and they offload the ball well - they average 19/20 per game and that’s hard to handle and plan against. We know they are going to be desperate.”

Catalans Dragons: from Tomkins, Makinson, Romano, Smith, Cotric, Keary, Mourgue, Pangai, Garcia, Bousquet, Sims, Whitehead, Partington, Da Costa, Satae, Navarrete, Seguier, Fages, Fages, Yaha, Laguerre, Maria.

Leeds Rhinos: from Miller, Newman, Handley, Hall, Croft, Frawley, Oledzki, Ackers, Palasia, Bentley, McDonnell, O'Connor, Lisone, Gannon, Jenkins, Connor, Sinfield, Edgell, Nicholson-Watton, Lumb, Clark-Wood.

Referee: Aaron Moore (Wigan). Kick-off: Saturday, 5.30pm UK.