Leeds Rhinos fans 'a bit negative' as St Helens' visit begins crunch month for Super League leaders

The Betfred Super League leaders face a huge test at home to third placed St Helens on Thursday evening. Leeds haven’t beaten Saints at AMT Headingley since August 2017, a run of eight successive defeats.

The YEP’s fans jury aren’t particularly confident about Rhinos’ chances of ending that dismal run this week, despite their side’s recent good form. Here they look ahead to Thursday’s game and reflect on the season so far.

IAIN SHARP

Last weekend was an opportunity to consider another major rebuilding job being planned for the closed-season. I’ve commented in the past about how divisive the announcements about players leaving have been, in some cases, before the season even started.

Brodie Croft was booed by Leeds fans in the aftermath of the announcement he is going to Warrington, to not win anything, for the next three years. I could use some of the usual hackneyed staples of it being a short career and him needing to provide for his family and say ‘you’d do the same in your job’.

Yes, it is sad that players are departing from our great club, but that is half the story. The other pertinent question is, who is going to replace them? If I told you Croft was being replaced by, for example, Cameron Munster of Melbourne Storm, you’d practically be paying Brodie’s bus fare to Warrington to get him away quick enough.

The real pressure now falls on Ian Blease to source quality replacements, but if players are out of contract at Leeds, there is talent elsewhere who’d give their right arm to come to us. So, while the departures are sad and we’d all rather they weren’t happening, let’s see who is going to be coming in to replace them before going into meltdown.

DAVID MUHL

With no Rhinos game last week because of Wembley it got me thinking of Challenge Cup finals of the past. My first final was in May 1968 against Wakefield; I was taken on the ‘train special’ by my dad - rosette pinned on my shirt, rattle in my hand and pom-pom hat, knitted by my aunty Mary, that I never actually wore as my dad decided to use it to carry his two bottles of Newcastle Brown ale

Leeds won that day 11-10, thanks to the great Don Fox, missing what would normally be a straightforward kick. In truth that game should never have been played because of the atrocious conditions. I never saw him miss the kick as my dad was convinced he’d kick it and we left as soon as the try was scored. I have never left a game early since.

My next trip to Wembley to see Leeds was in May 1971 when famously Sid Hynes was the first man to be sent off in a cup final for a ‘clash’ with Alex Murphy. I still believe to this day Murphy conned the referee. I was there again the year after to see Leeds beaten again by another team playing in red and white, St Helens.

We got back to winning ways in 1977, when we beat Widnes. A young Kevin Dick scored a try from an outrageous dummy under the posts and John Atkinson got one of the best tries from a kick at Wembley I’ve seen.

Atkinson repeated his try scoring in 1978 when I watched them beat St Helens 14-12. We had to wait till 1999 to win it again. That was Leroy Rivett’s final where he scored four tries against London Broncos. Also, 2014, 2015 and 2020 were winning years and - other than the 2020 final which was played behind closed doors because of Covid - I was there at them all. Hopefully it won’t be long before I see the Rhinos lift the trophy again.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

After another weekend without Leeds playing, it feels even more frustrating that we haven’t been involved in the later stages of the Challenge Cup. Our league form has shown we are more than good enough to be competing for all silverware and it has been far too long since the Rhinos have visited Wembley.

Aside from our woes in the Challenge Cup, Leeds have had a fairly successful start to the 2026 season. We sit joint-top on the table and played some outstanding rugby as well. I think there is still an issue with consistency, with the very few games we have lost this season being because we were poor rather than coming up against better quality teams. On the whole, it has been a good start and long may it continue.

One of the few frustrations I have had with Leeds this season is our recruitment and retaining players for next season and beyond. We have given ourselves a mountain to climb to replace at least five core members of the first team next year. What adds insult to injury is the fact that for the first time in years we have some consistency with the playing squad, now it looks like we will be spending another off season rebuilding. This will determine if Ian Blease has what it takes to be at a club like Leeds.

Speaking of consistency, our next game against St Helens at home will be a solid test to see how good this Leeds team can be. Saints were a constant thorn in our side last year and if we are to push on to become one of the better sides in the division, we need to be beating those at the top of the table with us.

BECKY OXLEY

It would have been incredible to be writing this as the Challenge Cup champions. Celebrating at Wembley is, in my opinion, unparalleled. The atmosphere, the journey to London and the entire experience are unique and unforgettable. However, it’s not all negative as we still have the Super League title to pursue.

Currently we are leading the league and showcasing some fantastic rugby. We are at the top in several categories, starting with our league position. Additionally, Maika Sivo is the top try scorer, Jake Connor leading goal scorer and we hold records for the largest away win and highest attendance. With only 12 rounds completed, being in this position with plenty of rugby left to play excites me about what lies ahead.

I’m confident Brad Arthur will keep us sharp and ensure, as he has done so far, that we remain focused and avoid complacency. As a team we are strong and possess a positive mindset with effective set plays and attacking strategies.

This week, we face St Helens. They are tied with us at the top, so it won’t be an easy match. After their loss to Cas in the last round, I’m sure they will come out all guns blazing.

KATIE MARCZYNSKI

Back to it after a lovely week off in the sunshine and we’ve got a tricky run of fixtures in June when three of our four games are against the teams currently in second, third and fourth on the table. As well as a jaunt over to Toulouse - a game we should easily win - we face Saints at home, Warrington away and round off the month welcoming Hull KR to HQ.

St Helens are a definite bogey team of recent years and, despite a number of big injuries, are going really well this season. I don’t have high hopes of us beating them. Warrington away will also be tough; we narrowly outplayed them at home in March, but our away form this year (especially against the top teams) has been poor. Improvements must be made if we are to win this one.

Hull KR have been much better since Vegas and will want to level things up. We know we can beat them, but whether we’ll bring our A-game remains to be seen. That all sounds a bit negative, but if we can manage two wins from the four June fixtures, we’ll hopefully still be muscling our way into the top-four.