Leeds Rhinos play-off hopes still alive says Nene Macdonald as he warns 'no one should write us off'

A run of five defeats from their last six games has left Rhinos out of the Betfred Challenge Cup and eighth in Super League as the second half of the campaign gets underway.

Rhinos are four points outside the play-offs zone, but Macdonald reckons a top-six finish remains within reach and it would be unwise to count them out.

“I have full faith in our team and I think we can do it,” the Papua New Guinea international insisted. “I think we can get in the top-six and we can do something at the end of the year. No one should write us off yet.”

Rhinos lost to second-bottom Castleford Tigers last weekend and visit 12th-placed Wakefield Trinity on Sunday. Huddersfield Giants, in 10th, are next up after that and Macdonald warned: “I think that’s the biggest challenge coming into the next few rounds.

“Teams are going to be [facing] relegation and they will be fighting and trying things they don’t normally do.

“They are going to be desperate and we have to step up. They are below us on the table, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

Leeds led by 10 points deep into the final quarter against Castleford and Macdonald admitted that was a “tough loss”.

He said: “I really wanted to win at Magic Weekend, my first time playing at that stadium. We should have won, I think we got a bit too comfortable. We got to 24-14 and we had a chance to finish the game off, but we let them back in and they took it with both hands.”

Macdonald refused to blame Rhinos’ lengthy injury list for the defeat, adding: “We definitely had a team that was strong enough to win.

“We had a lot of players out there who were experienced and could get the job done. It’s no excuse, we have a squad for a reason so we had players who could fill in.

“But they wanted it more than us, they were more enthusiastic than us and it showed in the back end of the game.

“We shouldn’t get too comfortable, but there’s always things to work on every week and we have to make sure we improve from that.”

Rhinos have had some outstanding wins this year, against Catalans Dragons at Headingley and away to St Helens and Wigan Warriors, but have been unable to maintain that level from week to week.

Talking points: Smith's dilemma, fans right to be angry, how to get better results

Macdonald reflected: “That’s the thing, it seems like we are really good this year, at our very best, or we are a long way off what we are good at.

“It is either one end of the scale or the other and I think we need to start pushing the bottom scale up to half way and only come down that low, because I feel we can really drop down at times.”

On a personal note, Macdonald has made a strong start to his Leeds career following an off-season move from Leigh.

“It’s a great club and a great city,” he stated. “I think I have been playing well and putting in the work. I came in early after the World Cup to start my pre-season early, so I could come out of the gates going well. I think it is paying off now and hopefully I can keep this form until the end of the year.”

But he vowed: “I think there’s a lot more in me. I am doing one part of my game, which is run the ball hard and taking those tough carries and runs no one wants to take.

“But I am also a good finisher and a good ball runner at the other end of the field. I feel like I haven’t got to show that yet, but it will come. It hasn’t yet, but I just need to ball to come to me at that end and we’ll see what happens.”