Leeds Rhinos fans confident for Castleford Tigers derby after crunch win v Leigh Leopards

Last Thursday’s 22-14 win at Leigh Leopards kept Rhinos in the hunt for a top-three finish in Betfred Super League. A host of individual performances impressed the YEP’s fans jury, but a couple of them weren’t happy with the match officials.

GAVIN MILLER

Against Leigh, Leeds reminded us again they are a proper team capable of doing something this season. There were a couple of negatives though.

The new winger brought in from Salford looked like he’d never played Super League before and his defensive reads were very suspect. I was largely unimpressed with Morgan Gannon also. As a player with huge potential, he made a number of mistakes on his comeback from injury. Both need to improve to stay in this Leeds team.

Refereeing controversy was never far away either, with mistakes both off-field. The video ref incredibly saw a separation of hands and ball on the video which resembled one filmed on an old hand held Betamax camera. Then the on-field one gave a penalty for dissent when the captain’s challenge showed Harry Newman had a good case for dissent. It is ridiculous our professional sport is ruled like this.

I hope we get to hear on Monday that Brad Arthur is staying, but what nonsense this situation is. He’s either staying or going back to Australia and we didn’t need four or five days’ notice to stew on what he might decide.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

In the victory over Leigh we saw both the best and worst from Leeds in a game that could have gone either way. If one match was going to convince Brad Arthur to stay, surely it would have been this one, especially after the away end serenaded him.

Under Brad Arthur, Leeds have become a lot more resilient and seem to perform better when the tide is against us. Leigh had a lot more of the ball than us, but we did not crack in the vital moments. Even after conceding the first two tries, heads did not drop and it’s a credit to the work Arthur has done with this side.

While it was an impressive win over a play-off rival, it wasn’t a perfect performance. The amount of errors we made nearly cost us the game. There is no excuse for Jarrod O’Connor dropping that ball - drop on it if you have to. Giving them the ball with only two points in it is criminal, but he wasn’t the only offender. Cut the silly errors out and we will have a shot at winning some silverware this season.

Looking ahead to Castleford away, this should be another two points in our favour as we push for the top-four. Castleford have shown little signs of life throughout the season, but have largely been disappointing. This should be a routine win and anything less than a cricket score would be a disappointment.

IAIN SHARP

If anything has swayed Brad Arthur at the last minute into staying at Leeds for another season, it must have been the attraction of more Thursday nights in places like Leigh, with its many award-winning roundabouts and photogenic UNESCO listed retail parks.

Perhaps one of the reasons Leeds fans haven’t really taken to the 40/20 rule in the years since its introduction is that we haven’t had anyone to ruthlessly exploit its advantages. Yes, we’ve kicked them before, but it always seemed more luck than management. That was until the arrival of Jake Connor. His sublime kick turned the game on its head to Leeds’ advantage. We may be faced with the ridiculous situation of the Man of Steel-elect being ignored for Ashes selection at the end of the season.

Another player who has blossomed this season is Lachie Miller - solid in defence and under the high ball, but also showing his sevens skills coming forward. He scored an excellent try and set up Brodie Croft’s score.

Worthy of praise also have been Cooper Jenkins and Keenan Palasia, who’ve stepped up when our first-choice props haven’t been available. Even with the niggling injuries in the squad, I’m still confident of the play-offs in a little over a month’s time.

DAVID MUHL

Trips across the Pennines have over the years resulted in disappointment, but not on Thursday. This game had everything: great tries, big hits, controversial decisions and a positive outcome for the Rhinos.

It wasn’t a perfect performance, we made several unforced errors and took wrong options at times, but it would be unfair of me to be too critical. There were good performances across the board; Lachie Miller, rightly, got the man of the match but Jake Connor ran him close and his kicking game was out of the top drawer, including a very impressive 40/20 which seemed to change the match.

One player I was really impressed with, but who tends to slip under the radar, is James McDonnell. His work rate is immense and he tackles anything that moves. Leigh are a top side and it’s imperative we beat the top teams if we want to progress in the play-offs. I don’t think a top-four place is out of our reach.

Back to Thursday’s game and yet again we had a referee’s call overturned by the video ref. I understand that to overturn the on-field decision there must be clear and obvious evidence. I have watched it dozens of times and it’s unclear. I do think we should review the use of the video referee; it’s taking too long to make decisions and the view from the terraces is their number one objective is to find something to disallow and so will keep looking at replays as often as possible and in slow motion until they do. It’s a shame because I thought overall the game was refereed well.

If we keep playing the way we are then our run in should be good. All I need now is positive news about Brad Arthur. The Leeds fans on Thursday made their views clear.

BECKY OXLEY

The business end of the season has come round so fast. It doesn’t seem like two minutes ago it was round one, in February. It’s definitely true what they say, time goes by faster the older you get.

Leigh was never going to be an easy opponent and the match was filled with intensity, making it an exciting game for neutral spectators. There were some chaotic moments and defensively, both teams were exceptional. Lachie Miller delivered an outstanding performance, while Sam Lisone demonstrated his strength, charging down the field like a Rhino.

Hopefully we will soon have clarity on Brad Arthur’s decision regarding whether he will remain or return to Australia. I sincerely hope he chooses to stay as the players, club and fans are fully supportive of him and the respect is undoubtedly mutual. Ultimately, it is his decision, but I believe he is the ideal candidate for the role.

Castleford are up next and on paper it should be two points to Leeds, but that isn’t guaranteed to happen. We always get a tough match and it will be I think a close call. The two points are important at this time of the season, so let’s hope they go our way.