Leeds Rhinos' Jarrod O'Connor makes Brad Arthur pledge, warns of London Broncos threat

The Australian team boss has penned a contract to remain in charge of Rhinos next year, but his future beyond that is undecided. Leeds’ players have welcomed Arthur’s decision to stay, after he initially signed on for just 10 matches and O’Connor reckons he has already made a significant impact.

“Everyone’s really happy with the professionalism he has brought over,” O’Connor said of the former NRL coach. “We know what he has achieved in Australia with Parramatta and we are all happy to have that sort of knowledge on board.

“We are trying to learn as much as we can off him. We don’t know if he’s going to be here longer than next year; hopefully he will be, but we are going to get as much knowledge as we can off him so whoever comes in next can carry on that form.”

Of Arthur’s style as a coach, O’Connor said: “He keeps his head and he is honest with players, which I think is good. He has brought a level of accountability to everyone which is obviously good going forward. We all know where we need to improve and what we are doing well at the minute.”

Rhinos are on the back of a crucial 18-6 home win over play-off rivals Catalans Dragons last Friday and could find themselves in Betfred Super League’s top-six by the end of round 24, if they win at London Broncos on Sunday and other results go their way. But a lack of consistency has been their downfall this year and O’Connor admitted that has to change.

Rhinos have won every other game under Arthur, with three victories and as many defeats. They have managed back-to-back successes just three times this season and it’s more than a year since they won three straight games.

A loss on Sunday would be disastrous for Rhinos’ top-six hopes, but London - who are bottom of the table - took them to golden-point extra-time at AMT Headingley in July and have beaten Leeds in each of their past two relegation seasons. O’Connor stressed nobody is expecting Sunday’s game to be easy.

“London are one of the tougher sides to go and play sometimes,” he warned. “We need to prepare like they are a top side because we’ve got no second chances any more after Magic Weekend. We will prepare like they are a top side and I am sure we’ll get the job done.”

London are battling with Hull FC to avoid the wooden spoon, but the points system being introduced to decide league placings from next season means they have no chance of holding on to their top-flight place. O’Connor noted: “They have got nothing to lose at the minute and any team like that is dangerous.

“They are going to throw the ball about and they want to finish off their season as strongly as they can so they have got a lot to play for. We are ready for the challenge.”

Inevitably Rhinos will have one eye on the table and results elsewhere this weekend, but O’Connor pledged the main focus is their own performance. “There’s not much more we can do now, it’s just win as many games as we can and see what happens,” he stated.

“If not, we are building for next year, but at the minute there’s not many points in it. We need a few results to go our way and I think we can sneak in there.”

On a personal note, O’Connor is near to completing a second successive ever-present campaign. After a run of starts, he has been used as a substitute in five of Arthur’s six games in charge, coming on at either hooker or loose-forward. The exception to that was Rhinos’ home win over Wigan Warriors when he was at number 13 in place of the suspended Cameron Smith.

Arthur has said he likes to begin games with O’Connor on the bench as he can fit into two roles and doesn’t need to go off for a breather once he has entered the action. “Brad has spoken to me about my role,” O’Connor said.

“Obviously I want to be starting, but if he feels that [substitute] is the best role for the team at the minute, I am happy to do that. I think it’s working quite well at the minute, the impact some of our bench middles are coming on with is providing a boost, which I think we need.”