Leeds Rhinos fans shocked by loss at Leigh Leopards, call out poor attack & demand better from big names
A 26-14 defeat wasn’t what the YEP fans jury expected from Leeds Rhinos’ opening league game at Leigh Leopards.
Rhinos went into Betfred Super League round one with a lengthy injury list and - other than a first start at half-back for George Brown and Cooper Jenkins’ solo try - there wasn’t a lot for the travelling supporters to celebrate. With Rhinos due to face York Knights, who beat treble winners Hull KR in round one, at AMT Headingley on Friday, our panel are hoping to see some star names back on the field and calling for a much-improved performance.
ALEX SHARP
I turned up to Leigh full of optimism, but came away thinking ‘what if?’ If we’d had Jake Connor in the team and he got his hands on the ball, would we have come away with the two points? George Brown, who stepped in for Connor, showed he is going to be a big talent in the future and I was cheering with the other fans when he put two big hits on Edwin Ipape.
Cooper Jenkins stood up and was counted, being strong and powerful throughout the game. I’m glad he got a try for his effort. I was just getting back to my seat after half time when the momentum of the game swung massively towards Leigh. Riley Lumb didn’t gather the ball from the kick off and gave Leigh one of the fastest and easiest second half tries I’ve seen. If he wanted to be in the 17 in Las Vegas that certainly wouldn’t have helped his case.
After round one I am still optimistic for 2026 and think Brad Arthur will do good with the team we have. Derek Beaumont, the owner of Leigh, put on a great pre-match show to open the season. Hopefully representatives from Rhinos saw the fireworks and entertainment and put something similar on for our home fans on Friday against York Knights.
KATIE MARCZYNSK
Round one was a great advert for Super League. The promoted sides were brilliant and there were some good games to enjoy. It’s just a shame ours wasn’t one of them.
Starting with the positives, in the first 10 minutes we looked good and we definitely benefited from the new rule changes around ruck infringements. But aside from an okay start and a brilliant solo try from Cooper Jenkins, there wasn’t much else to celebrate.
It was a case of poor discipline and poorer execution, compounded by a Leigh side who looked much fitter than us. We lacked creativity in attack and our defence was nowhere near last year's standard. But what did we expect? Five of the nine injured players would walk into our starting line up.
As the game went on, the six-agains and penalties for interference killed us. Here’s hoping the first-round enthusiasm for the new rules wears off. Next we face York for the first time in 40 years. The Knights impressed against Hull KR and we will need to be much better to beat them. No Jake Connor, no points is the way it seems to be at the moment, so I’ll be eagerly awaiting the squad announcement before getting my hopes up.
TOM GOLDSWORTHY
In what was already a tough fixture before our mini injury crisis, Leeds unfortunately were the losers after a tough battle with Leigh Leopards. Having the majority of our spine missing, it was always going to be a big ask to get a result, but I do not think we were a million miles away from getting the win. There were just some clear lapses in concentration which led to Leigh getting some easy tries and us ultimately losing out.
One thing that did worry me from the result was the lack of spark in the attack. This is an issue that has carried on from last season; when Jake Connor doesn’t play, we look blunt whenever we are in a position to try and get some points on the board. Our kicking game was especially poor, with a lot of Brodie Croft’s attempts going straight to Leopards hands.
The effort was there, which was pleasing to see, but we just lacked that bit of quality and discipline with the ball. Hopefully when we have a more settled team these attacking issues will iron themselves out.
Looking ahead to York, we need to right the wrongs from our trip to Leigh and get our first win of the season. The Knights will be no push overs, as they showed by beating last year’s champions in their opening game, so we will have to be at the top of our game to get a result. I imagine we will have some players back who will want to prove their fitness before our big trip across the pond and with our home form generally being quite formidable, I can't see anything but a Leeds win.
DAVID MUHL
It was always going to be a hard task going to Leigh, a top team, with nine players on the sideline and so it turned out. On this showing Leigh will be challenging for silverware come the end of the season. It was not all doom and gloom though and there were some good points.
George Brown fitted smoothly into the halves, his defence was awesome and, given a few more games in the first team, I think he’ll be a star. Cooper Jenkins had a strong game and scored an excellent try. He stood up well, but we badly missed Keenan Palasia and Mikolaj Oledzki.
The other good point is we kept going right to the end. The effort which was on show from the beginning continued for the full 80, although a lot of Leeds fans started to do a Wigan walk with 15 minutes to go so would not have seen that. I haven’t left a match early since May 11, 1968 - the players deserve my support until the end.
We badly missed the big men and, of course, Jake Connor. Our attack was a bit blunt, but you will not win any game of rugby when you give the opposition three tries from errors. It was a game Riley Lumb will want to forget very quickly, but one mistake doesn’t make a bad player; he’ll learn from it and come back stronger.
Lachie Miller also had an off day. What on earth was he thinking, kicking very early in the tackle count when we had them under pressure? It’s York up next in front of a packed AMT Headingley and, as we saw against Hull KR, they won’t be a push over. But we should have some troops back so hopefully it will be back to normal service.
IAIN SHARP
I once went to Leigh and it was closed. Trying to avoid a similar occurrence, most of Leeds’ travelling faithful stayed home, opting to peer out of the curtains at the falling rain and sleet and mutter things like ‘I thought it was supposed to be summer rugby’.
On field, the game was a free hit for the home side, given Leeds’ early season mini injury crisis. It was certainly more important to their fans than ours, in the biggest ‘meh’ opening fixture in recent years. I’d expect more comebacks than Frank Sinatra in time for this week’s game at home to York, with a week away in Las Vegas - not to mention the associated duty frees and a pair of airline in-flight slipperettes - on the line.
Friday’s game has been made all the more spicy thanks to York’s shock opening day beating of defending champions Hull KR. Could it happen again? I’ve been around long enough to see us lose at home to York.
BECKY OXLEY
I had been eagerly anticipating last Friday since the conclusion of the 2025 season. I am thrilled to see the potential we have this season and what we can accomplish with the new signings and Brad Arthur’s impact on the team, but the match on Friday night against Leigh was not the start we required.
I felt we were rather lackluster, which was quite frustrating. Several injuries going into the game didn’t help, but I believed we had the quality in our team to perform better than we did. The mistakes and absence of direction need to be rectified in preparation for the upcoming game against York.
Harry Newman’s petulance really bothers me. I understand players are driven by adrenaline and passion, but once Harry gets fixated on something, he tends to hold on to it. This negatively affects his performance and the overall game. I mention this every season, yet nothing seems to change.
The match on Friday night against York will not be straightforward. They will be motivated after defeating the champions Hull KR in their opening game. I am certain they will come out strong and we will need to adjust our strategies. I anticipate it will be a tightly-contested match, but hopefully, playing at home will give us the edge to secure the two points.