Leeds Rhinos fans split as 1 says 'we were okay' but others blast 'worst' performance v Catalans Dragons

The 16-8 loss to Catalans Dragons at AMT Headingley shocked the YEP’s fans Jury, but some of their disappointment was lifted when fifth-placed St Helens were beaten at Leigh Leopards the following evening, meaning Rhinos can’t be overhauled for fourth spot. Leeds travel to Wigan Warriors on Friday with a mathematical chance of finishing third, but it’s more likely they’ll remain where they are and play host to bogey club Saints in an elimination play-off the following weekend. Here’s what our panel made of recent events.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

In what should have been a routine win for Leeds on Thursday, we failed to rise to the occasion as Catalan Dragons recorded a second surprise victory against the Rhinos this season. Apart from the 40-20 and 20-40 kicks, I don't think Catalans played particularly well; Leeds were just their own worst enemy once again.

Most of our losses this season, including this one, have come from us trying to rush every single play, inevitably panicking and then coming up with an error. The lack of organisation and fluidity in attack when Jake Connor isn’t on the field is disappointing given the calibre of player we had available.

While no Leeds player performed well, Brodie Croft might have been the worst. Given his stature in the squad, we need to be seeing more from him in these games. Some of his decision making was baffling, like kicking on the first tackle straight to a Dragons player or trying to kick it and missing it completely. I appreciate it isn't all down to him to get us performing, it is not the first time this has happened and we need better as Leeds head into the business end of the season.

Looking ahead to Wigan, we need a big performance. While we don't need to worry about where we finish after securing a home game in the first play-off round, momentum is crucial at this point of the season. Wigan away is always a tough fixture, but we have shown this season how good we can be and I tip us to set ourselves up for the play-offs with a win away at the champions.

BECKY OXLEY

I certainly did not anticipate that outcome. Given the performances over the past month and our style of play, it felt like we were witnessing a completely different Rhinos team. The squad appeared somewhat complacent, as if they expected not to have to exert themselves. In contrast, Catalans came out fully prepared to compete. Their defense was solid and their gameplay was far less careless than ours.

We were clearly missing Jake Connor, and that was evident throughout the match. We seemed directionless and our kicking game left much to be desired. Chris Hankinson struggled on the wing, failing to secure the ball, which led to numerous touches going out of play. Although we performed slightly better in the second half, things still didn’t gel, and it always felt like Catalans were destined to secure the victory.

As it stands, we will face Saints at home in the first week of the play-offs. This will not be an easy challenge, but we have another match against Wigan to consider before that. It will be intriguing to see how Brad Arthur decides to approach the game—whether we take the risk with any players who are 50-50 due to injuries, or if we simply aim to get through the game.

This season has passed by so quickly and I can hardly believe we are already nearing its conclusion. I have already arranged my season ticket for 2026, as I was quick to call within three minutes of them becoming available. I am excited to see what next season has in store, but first let’s focus on wrapping up this season and finishing as strongly as we can.

IAIN SHARP

With the start of the new school year, you may find your child’s new GCSE biology textbook and when thumbing through, arrive at the section on biological anomalies (extra fingers, hairy babies, that sort of thing). This is not restricted to the living world, but also occurs in the world of rugby league as we saw last week when Leeds regressed from looking like world beaters to prime Rohan Smith territory.

Symptoms of such a condition included the return of the invisible eight-foot-tall winger, ineffective kicking, chucking the ball to no one in particular and the age-old Leeds problem of trying too hard, when a more settled approach would have brought the rewards the team sought. Of course, the casual observer will say ‘they are nothing without Jake Connor’, but in scraps like this, Leeds have a nasty habit of falling to the poorer level of the the opposition.

Throw in the ineffective dealing with Catalans’ usual grubby antics and a kicker taking so long he was clearly expecting a call from President Macron for his turn to be French Prime Minister. Mix it all together and you had the recipe for perhaps the worst performance of the season. Still, we’ve got the bad one out of the way now and play-off footy is assured, where anything can happen and probably will.

GAVIN MILLER

Weirdly, I thought Leeds went okay on Thursday night. Despite the defeat and lack of tries, I thought Leeds generally were the better team. Catalans defended like they haven’t done all season and, strangely as a team with nothing to play for, played like they had everything on the line. Fair play to them, it proves you don’t get anything for free in rugby league. You have to earn your right to win a Super League game, you don’t just turn up and win.

The net result of the weekend’s games is that Leeds have secured a top-four position and a home tie in the first round of the play-offs and can now begin planning our assault on a trip to Old Trafford. Wigan this week is a dead rubber, do we rest a couple of players or go in fully firing? It’s a difficult balance, but I’m sure the coach knows the state of his players. I’d definitely rest Jake Connor again and give him the best chance to be fit and firing for the play-offs. Still confident here…Old Trafford waits for Leeds.

DAVID MUHL

Well, I didn’t see that coming. I think the players picked Thursday to collectively and individually have a bad day. It felt like Leeds had gone back to the Rohan Smith days - we didn’t seem to have a clue. If ever we were reminded how much we need Jake Connor, this was it. Jack Sinfield is a player for the future but he’s not there yet and certainly no Jake.

Every player on the field seemed to want to win the match individually on every play. Patience was definitely needed, but seldom seen. If we play like this in the play-offs, we won’t get far. Catalans, to be fair, tackled well and did their usual spoiling routine to its maximum. The referee had more patience than we did and left it late before sending anyone to the sin-bin.

For the first time, I thought Brad Arthur got things wrong. I would have had Andy Ackers on the bench; he gives us a better attack option and against a big pack we needed his go-forward. However, I can’t be too down, we are guaranteed a home play-off game, probably against Saints and if we get back to our recent form, we should be okay.

Our next game is away to Wigan. In a way this is dead rubber, but it is our chance to put Thursday’s performance to bed and get our form back. Hopefully Jake will be fit.

It has been a good season for the club; the reserves and academy teams are both in their Grand Final and the ladies have had a good season. Things are looking positive for the future. Bring on Saints.