Leeds Rhinos: '˜We will go again,' vows Garbutt as slump goes on

Garbutt admitted Rhinos had no answers, particularly in the first half, as they were pummelled 46-8 at Wigan Warriors.

Leeds opened the scoring, but were 22-4 adrift by the break and a seventh successive Betfred Super League defeat looked inevitable from the moment Wigan got off the mark, after 12 minutes.

“We had a few bodies back as well, which we were hoping were going to help,” Garbutt reflected.

“I think their first 30 minutes won them the game. They probably nailed everything they set out to do.

“They scored a couple of tries, they gassed us and we never recovered.

“We know we are a good side, we know the players we’ve got and we know we can beat anyone when we are on.

“Unfortunately, Wigan were unreal in that first 30 minutes and that won it for them.

“We didn’t perform well, but they didn’t take their foot off.”

This year’s form is in stark contrast to last year when Rhinos finished second in the table and went on to beat Castleford Tigers in the Grand Final, but Garbutt insisted they aren’t doing anything different in the build-up to games.

He said: “We do the same every week – in 2016, last year and this year. We train hard all week, we do the same thing every week and, unfortunately, results differ.

“We are seeing the bad side of it at the minute. We’ve been lucky, we’ve seen some good sides, but now we are definitely seeing the bad side of it now.”

So, what will it take to turn things around?

“I think it’s a win, to be honest,” Garbutt said.

“A win makes everyone feel better and we’ll get a bit of confidence from a win.

“We’ve had some losses which are massively disappointing, but you go again.”

Rhinos now have only four games left to avoid a second bottom-four finish in three years.

Their current run is Leeds’ worst in Super League since the competition began in 1996 and they face another top-four team next weekend when they visit Castleford for a Sunday afternoon derby.

Tigers have already beaten Leeds twice this year, including a 38-10 hammering at last month’s Magic Weekend.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” said Garbutt.

“We are up against it next week, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do – keep going .

“That’s why you play, the challenges.”

Leeds have a 10-day turnaround before their trip to the Jungle, but that is a mixed blessing, in Garbutt’s opinion.

“It will probably freshen us up,” he said. “It is a long time to think about what we did wrong, but it’s a long time to fix it as well.”

Garbutt has played in Rhinos’ last four games, after a long lay-off due to a knee injury and Leeds’ front-row was also strengthened two days ago by Brad Singleton’s return from a broken thumb.

“It is good to have Singo back,” Garbutt added. “We have definitely missed him. If you had said to him a week in (to his injury) he could take the cast off and play I think he would have.

“He gave his all and he’ll be better for the run.”