Leeds Rhinos given 4-word instruction as Brad Arthur plots end to dismal home hoodoo v St Helens
Boss Brad Arthur has outlined what he wants to see from his Leeds Rhinos side against St Helens this evening in four words.
“More of the same,” is the call from Rhinos’ coach as Leeds aim to make it three successive wins against top-five teams and build on last week’s outstanding 14-8 victory at Betfred Super League leaders Hull KR. The first of back-to-back home games is a four-pointer with Rhinos battling to hold on to third place from Saints.
Leeds have had a five-day turnaround from a sapping match in east Hull, but Arthur reckons today is a real test of their credentials as a top side. He said: “Everyone keeps asking where we’re at and whether we think we can press for a title spot, but I keep coming up with the same answer; we are not quite at the Wigan and Hull KR level yet because they manage to do it every week.
“We, as a team, have proven we are good enough on our day to match it with the really good teams. Now, if we want to be a really good team, we have to do it every week. That is the challenge for us. You can’t be at your absolute best every week, but the way you approach the game needs to be and the style of footy we play, we can’t falter from that.”
Rhinos have lost only six times in 19 competitive games this year, but two of those defeats were to Saints, 22-14 in a Challenge Cup tie in March and 18-4 when the sides met three weeks ago. Leeds picked up a rare win, 17-4, at May’s Magic Weekend, but haven’t beaten Saints at AMT Headingley since August, 2017.
Last month’s result at TW Stadium was Rhinos’ only defeat in their past eight games. Arthur said: “We are 17 weeks in and that’s the only week when I think we had the wrong attitude towards a game, but if you want to be the best, you’ve got to do it all the time. We are not far off, but I want to see us come with the right attitude towards the style of footy we want to play.”
He added: “We have shown we can win different ways, which is pleasing. That’s something we’ve learned from the start of the season when we got a bit nervy in a few games. We’ve managed to find different ways to win and stick to our plan for 80 minutes, but there’s still a long way to go in this competition. You can see how close it is and we are excited about it.”
Saints are two points behind Leeds, but their better for and against ensures they will move above Rhinos if they win. “I think they are going well,” Arthur said of this evening’s visitors. “They have probably fallen under the radar a little bit. All the talk’s about a few other teams, but they are doing a pretty good job at the moment of not beating themselves.”