Leeds Rhinos’ turnaround highlighted by favourites tag to face Toronto Wolfpack - Peter Smith's 'Inside Rugby League'

The last time Rhinos strung a hat-trick of victories together was in September, 2018, when they beat Widnes Vikings, Salford Red Devils and Halifax in the Betfred Super-8s Qualifiers.

Ominously for anyone who believes in omens, Rhinos’ next opponents – for the final game of the season – were tonight’s visitors Toronto Wolfpack.

Then a Championship side, Toronto left Headingley with a 17-16 win thanks to a Gareth O’Brien drop goal.

That was one of the lowest points in Rhinos’ recent history, perhaps only superseded by the Coral Challenge Cup defeat at Bradford Bulls last May, but a lot has happened since then.

Wolfpack have appointed former Rhinos boss Brian McDermott as coach, romped to promotion last year and created world-wide headlines by signing Sonny Bill Williams.

That’s small beer, though, compared to what Rhinos have been through.

They have a new ground, one head coach has been and gone, they have survived another brush with relegation and the squad has undergone a massive overhaul.

Of the 17 Leeds players on duty in that Qualifiers clash, only seven are in contention to play tonight – and one of those, Anthony Mullally, is with the opposition.

Had Leeds played Toronto midway through last year, the Canadian side would probably have been favourites for the win.

Not so now. It is no surprise they have found it difficult adjusting to Super League, losing all their five games so far.

They haven’t played at home yet and have faced both the 2019 Grand Finalists, as well as the teams finishing second, fourth and fifth – in other words, all last year’s play-offs sides.

Realistically, tonight might have been the first match they had circled as a possible win.

They are also finding it a struggle operating with a 23-man squad, though some loan signings have been drafted in to help out. That was their choice, of course. They could have opted to spread their cash more widely, but the opportunity to sign a global superstar of Sonny Bill Williams’ pulling power proved too tempting.

Williams has, famously, played against Rhinos before; back in 2005 he was a member of the Canterbury Bulldogs side beaten by Leeds in the World Club Challenge at Elland Road. That was a great night for Rhinos, but is arguably best remembered for Williams’ huge hit on Leeds winger Marcus Bai.

So while Toronto’s tribulations are par for the course, probably only the most optimistic of Rhinos fans would have expected to attend tonight’s game knowing a win by four or more points would take their team top of the table, for 24 hours at least.

When Rhinos were embarrassed at home by Hull in round one, it seemed another long, disappointing season might be on the cards.

Rhinos have won their three games since then, scoring 110 points and conceding only 18.

They have gone 133 minutes without letting in a point and last week’s 36-0 drubbing of Warrington was as good as it has been at Headingley for years.

That’s all without a host of first-choice players through injury.

Of course, lose tonight and it will be all doom and gloom again, but Rhinos have been improving slowly since Richard Agar got his teeth into the coaching job midway through last year.

The spirit in the camp has improved considerably and Agar deserves great credit for that, as well as the technical improvements his side have made, particularly in defence.

Rhinos’ recent recruitment has been criticised, but Ava Seumanufagai and Rhyse Martin were terrific additions last year, Rob Lui is beginning to show what he can do and Luke Gale and Alex Mellor have made a positive impact.

Young players are being given an opportunity and the style of rugby Rhinos played last week was wonderful to watch.

There’s a long way still to go. Rhinos’ fixture list, so far, has been favourable and there will be some downs ahead, but these are much happier times for the eight-time Super League champions.