Leeds Rhinos fans label Giants defeat 'worst game', accept top-6 has gone, hit out at ref 'stinker'

That left Rhinos four points outside the play-offs with just four games remaining and our jury believe it is now a lost cause.

They weren’t happy with some decisions by the match officials at John Smith’s Stadium, but accept Leeds were largely the cause of their own downfall.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

Huddersfield versus Leeds was perhaps one of the worst games I have ever watched in Super League, with both teams and the officials all putting in a pretty poor performance.

I try to avoid the usual referee bashing that comes after most games as it is usually Leeds’ own fault that they lose, but some of the decisions made were just completely incorrect. Whilst the game was probably already over at this point, everyone in the stadium knew Jake Connor’s field goal attempt was wide and a professional referee should not be making such a clear and obvious error.

Whilst it was not the worst Leeds performance I have seen this year, there was nothing on display to really suggest that we deserve a spot in the play-offs. Apart from the two tries late in the first half, I do not think we offered much going forward and put in a weak performance defensively. The effort and energy was there from the boys, there was just a significant lack of quality on show.

One positive to take away from the game was Sam Lisone. This was arguably his best game in a Leeds shirt and was one of the only players to try and make a game out of it. His assist for Ash Handley’s try was superb and arguably should have scored his first try for Leeds at the beginning of the second half.

Looking ahead to |Hull FC game, I really do think it is about restoring some pride at this point as the play-offs just look a bit out of reach. We have seen a variety of different Rhinos performances this year which makes it incredibly difficult to predict and I just hope we show up and put on a performance that us fans deserve to see.

BECKY OXLEY

I feel like there has been every excuse under the sun used for us being beaten by Huddersfield: poor refereeing, injuries and a drop goal that was given , but hasn’t actually gone over.

Yes injuries can cause problems, but these players train together week-in, week-out, so they know the game plans and so on.

Yes, the referees make mistakes, but you shouldn’t play into this and make sure you are not giving away silly penalties - and a drop goal wasn’t going to make a difference to the result.

I feel that these excuses make us look stupid and don’t highlight the true issues. The team must want to win and stupid mistakes and poor attack and defence aren’t going to allow them to do that.

We are four games away from the end of the season and the play-off places are looking less and less like a possibility. I’ve tried to remain positive this season and have backed Rohan Smith and the squad, but I think we need to look at getting the last games of the season out of the way and then go back to basics.

I know that things take time to gel and don’t expect to get to a Grand Final or Challenge Cup final every year, but things need to change.

DAVID MUHL

I love a trip to our near neighbours Huddersfield and there was a good Leeds support to see if our boys could keep our top six-hopes alive, but yet again we were in for a disappointing afternoon.

Leeds had a strange look to their starting line-up with Rhyse Martin at stand-off and Sam Walters in the second-row. This was a very young Leeds side. I don’t like losing any game, but it takes the sting off when you see a team trying and putting effort in.

It was good to see Morgan Gannon back after injury and Leon Ruan and Luis Roberts given chances in the first team. They will only learn and get better for the experience. We had a 10-minute stoppage in the first half for a nasty looking injury to James Bentley who was taken straight off the field to a waiting ambulance. I really hope he is okay and recovers quickly. We certainly missed his tackling and defensive work.

Cam Smith continued his good form and worked tirelessly, I am really liking Sam Lisone and the way he plays, aggressive and hard running, my Leeds man of the match.

Although the quality was missing it was an entertaining game, with some good passages of play. Leeds could have won, they had chances and were unable to convert them. I thought the final score flattered Huddersfield who probably just about deserved to take the two points.

They certainly didn’t need the help they received from referee Marcus Griffiths who had a stinker of a game, awarding a try that never was and a drop goal that even had the Huddersfield players shocked!

Only four games of the regular season left, then we can put this season - one to forget - to bed and have a break and reset before next season, but before that we have a chance to regain a little pride on our visit to Humberside this week.

IAIN SHARP

Defeat at Huddersfield last Sunday has severely dented Leeds’ chance of making the end-of-season play-offs now, with a plethora of teams chasing that last remaining space.

I understand there are so many teams chasing that space, the RFL are thinking of spinning the season out even further, with a play-off space play-off for those sides stuck on the same number of league points.

The game also saw the 100th appearance of Rhyse Martin, perhaps our best and most consistent overseas signing in recent years, since he joined the club in 2019.

At Huddersfield, he was named on the team sheet as stand-off and during his Leeds career, he has occupied over 27 different team positions, including being video ref twice and who

can forget when he came off the bench in controversial circumstances to replace Gary

Hetherington as chief executive back in 2021 (are you sure - ED)?

I know that’s impossible, but it happened anyway . A tricky trip to Hull FC away next Saturday and perhaps the last throw of the play-off dice for Leeds.

SAM BROCKSOM

Despite signs of a comeback, the Rhinos were not able to overturn the 16-point deficit they found themselves in after just over 20 minutes at Huddersfield.

The Rhinos reduced the gap to four points but that’s all they could come up with and it was another defeat for Rohan Smith’s side and one that sees them all but out of the playoff race for 2023.

Shout out to Luke Hooley who picked up his second try in as many games. It was good link up play between him and Sam Walters that got our first points of the afternoon. The second try came from a break from Sam Lisone, who set up Ash Handley in the left corner. It was an impressive showing from Big Sam, who made the most metres of all the props, despite starting on the bench.

Hull FC is next up and it is another must-win game if our slim play-off hopes are to stay alive. Perhaps not reaching the top-six this year can be a positive, giving the club a reality check of where we are and what we need to do to improve. Either way, Lachie Miller is not the solution to all our problems, there are plenty of other additions and changes needed if we are to compete at the top.