Leeds Rhinos reaction: St Helens Challenge Cup draw follows 'erratic' loss to Wakefield Trinity

Rhinos’ Betfred Super League campaign began with a 14-12 home defeat by Wakefield Trinity and they were then handed a tough trip to St Helens in the second round of the knockout competition. It is the second successive season Rhinos have been paired with Saints, following a 20-6 defeat last year.

Coach Brad Arthur admitted the derby loss to Wakefield was a blow after a positive pre-season. Trinity scored all their points in a 10-minute blitz during the second quarter. Leeds managed a try in the final moments of each half, but struggled to make headway against an outstanding visiting defence.

Arthur said: “We had a big crowd and we needed to do better for them. It’s disappointing, but we’ve got to have a look at it, move on from it pretty quickly and get ready for next week. I was happy with the effort and the attitude was good about wanting to win, but we just didn’t get it right technically.”

Assessing where things went wrong, Arthur reckons Rhinos lost because they “lacked a vanity of composure, didn’t keep it simple enough”. He said: “I thought we were a bit erratic,” “We probably tried too hard as individuals to do things, rather than working together as a team. We had some big moments individually that weren’t the best for the team, which put us under a bit of pressure. I think maybe the occasion got the better of us and we didn’t handle it as well as they did. Some guys tried too hard, tried to do it all on their own.”

Arthur felt his side got “a bit jumpy in defence” early in the game and added: “When we had some ball after that we tried to chase the scoreboard a bit instead of trying to build some pressure and going set-for-set and getting to the end of our sets. We were trying to come up with big plays or get something done on our own.

“In the first half they had 15 minutes with the ball and we had 10. We gifted them field position through a couple of errors. We didn’t get to the last tackle and when they got down our end of the field, they got to the last tackle and they scored their first try from a kick.

“We scored a try from a kick just before half-time, but we struggled to get to the end of the tackle count. We were doing a lot of passing and moving around without actually having a real plan around it. We have got to keep it simpler - earn the right and build some pressure. We didn’t do that.”

One positive for Rhinos was Morgan Gannon’s Super League return after he missed the whole 2024 campaign through concussion. He came off the bench in the second half and twice went close to scoring.

“He was good,” Arthur said. “He gave us a bit of energy, he played nice and straight and direct and he looked dangerous.”

The Cup draw saw Wakefield handed an away tie at Huddersfield Giants, while Batley Bulldogs will visit Leigh Leopards and Featherstone Rovers travel to Catalans Dragons. The full draw - with ties to be played on the weekend of March 14-1, was: Widnes Vikings v Warrington Wolves, Salford Red Devils v Bradford Bulls, St Helens v Leeds Rhinos, Hull KR v Oldham, Leigh Leopards v Batley Bulldogs, Catalans Dragons v Featherstone Rovers, Huddersfield Giants v Wakefield Trinity, Wigan Warriors v Hull FC.