Leeds Rhinos talking points: 5 things we've learned from Super League matches so far

A year ago Rhinos had lost both their opening Betfred Super League matches and it is a similar situation now.

And, just like in 2022, Rhinos may go into a round four derby against Wakefield Trinity, at home this time, with both teams yet to get off the mark.

Here are five talking points ahead of Friday’s trip to reigning Super League and World Club champions St Helens.

1: Rhinos improved against Hull in round two, compared to their dismal opening performance at Warrington Wolves, but the 22-18 loss was nothing other than disappointing.

It was a game Leeds threw away. Having battled back from 16-6 down early in the second half to lead by two with 10 minutes left, they should have been good and smart enough to hold on. Rhinos won games in similar circumstances against Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers at the end of last year, but seem to have gone backwards since then.

2: The positives were, Rhinos created enough opportunities to win several games. On another day, clean breaks by Nene Macdonald, Cameron Smith and Ash Handley would have been rewarded, but they failed to take points from any of them. The forwards weren’t outclassed physically and Leeds’ fightback from 10 points adrift was spirited so it wasn’t an unmitigated failure like the week before, but the creative players need to be much better.

3: Individually, French international prop Justin Sangare has been the highlight of Rhinos’ two games so far, running hard and giving Leeds go-forward off the bench. He scored a try at Warrington and produced a lovely offload to send Kruise Leeming in against Hull. He had to wait until 12 minutes into last week’s second half to get on and there will be calls for him to be given more game time, or start, but at the moment he is making a good job of a specific role as an impact front-rower off the bench, something Rhinos have lacked in recent seasons.

4: Rhinos began 2022 with a relatively clean bill of health, then lost players to injury from game one. This year they’ve started the season with key men on the casualty list, but got through the opening couple of rounds in good health - other than Morgan Gannon’s head knock against Hull - and are beginning to get injury victims back, Nene Macdonald is now fit and available, Harry Newman and James Bentley are expected to feature in the next game or two and Mikolaj Oledzki has been pencilled in for the trip to Hull KR at the end of March. The three remaining long-term casualties will make a big difference when they rejoin the team.

5: The pressure will be on for as long as Rhinos remain on zero points, but they don’t really have anything to lose on Friday. Nobody will expect them to win, but there’s a theory the effects of a tough trip like the one Saints had back from Australia really hit after two weeks, which would play into Leeds’ hands. After 12 successive losses to Saints, a Rhinos victory is well overdue and, while unlikely, it isn’t beyond them if they improve again.