Leeds Rhinos ready to battle back into contention

WE GOT ourselves into this position, now we have to get ourselves out of it.
Richie Myler in action during Saturday's defeat for leeds Rhinos on Saturday. Picture: Varleys.Richie Myler in action during Saturday's defeat for leeds Rhinos on Saturday. Picture: Varleys.
Richie Myler in action during Saturday's defeat for leeds Rhinos on Saturday. Picture: Varleys.

That’s the message from half-back Richie Myler as Leeds Rhinos’ season hangs in the balance.

Rhinos have lost six and drawn one of their last 10 Betfred Super League games, after winning four of the first five.

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Sixth on the ladder, 13 points behind table-topping St Helens, the league leaders’ shield is already out of reach and another opportunity for silverware will be on the line when Leeds face in-form Championship side Leigh Centurions at Featherstone on Friday in a Ladbrokes Challenge Cup quarter-final.

Myler, an off-season signing from last Saturday’s conquerors Catalans Dragons, accepts it is a “tough situation”, but says Rhinos’ destiny is in their own hands.

Myler said he is “100 per cent” confident Leeds will turn things around, but admitted: “We are in a hole now. Obviously we’re depleted, but there’s only us that can get out of it.

“We’ve got to work hard and go again this week. We’re the only ones who can fix it. We are in a tough spot and everyone’s writing us off again, but we will dig deep, we’ll work hard and we’ll get it right.”

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He added: “Every game is going to be a tough one now in the run-in. We’ve put ourselves in this predicament where every game is a big game and we have to turn it around quickly.

Jordan Lilley, in action against

Catalans Dragons at the weekend. Picture: VarleysJordan Lilley, in action against

Catalans Dragons at the weekend. Picture: Varleys
Jordan Lilley, in action against Catalans Dragons at the weekend. Picture: Varleys

“That’s what we’re going to do. Hopefully we’ll get a few more bodies back on the field and the young lads are getting a bit more game time and a bit more confidence in them.

“We have got enough talent, we just need to perform and we need to stop giving ourselves too much to do in games. If we give teams a head start they will punish us.”

Rhinos have conceded the first score in their last five games, going at least 12 points behind in four of those.

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“We are taking too long to get into games and that hurts us,” Myler observed. “That’s the be-all and end-all really. In spells we look good, we just don’t have enough spells and we don’t have enough time with the ball.

“We’re giving teams too much of a start and it’s hurting us.”

Being without 10 senior players in last weekend’s 33-20 defeat was no excuse, according to Myler.

“We had a team that could still win that game,” he stressed. “There’s no point talking about who’s not out there, because they’re not out there.

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“The boys that were out there are good enough to win, but if you go to Catalans and don’t start well it will be a long day - and it was.”

With stand-off Joel Moon among those missing, Jordan Lilley was called up alongside Myler for the first time.

“It was a tough one to come in and I thought he did well,” Myler observed. “He stood his own and he came up with a few nice plays. We just didn’t have enough ball and we made it too hard for ourselves.

“Unfortunately we weren’t good enough. Catalans have gone through some tough periods themselves and got themselves out of it.

“That’s where at at the minute, we have to keep working hard and hopefully we’ll come out the right side of it.”