Legend Garry Schofield fires out Leeds Rhinos warning

Rhinos have won just one of their opening five Betfred Super League fixtures and were crushed 31-8 at home by an under-strength Hull side last Thursday.

Schofield, a star centre and stand-off for Great Britain and Leeds in the 1980s and 90s, felt that was the club’s worst league performance for five years and fears fans are losing patience with Rhinos’ mis-firing side.

The self-confessed Rhinos fan said: “The next three games will define Leeds’ season.

“We’ve got Salford away, the Challenge Cup and then St Helens at home.

“Any more performances like Thursday, the Leeds fans will not put up with it.

“They are very patient, but I’ve not known the Leeds fans – in two consecutive games – boo the players.”

Schofield described Leeds’ effort in their previous home match against Catalans Dragons as “boring” and reckons the new half-back pairing of Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer has not worked.

“The jigsaw puzzle’s not right,” he said. “We have been scraping around since the Burrow-McGuire days for a half-back combination.

“We tried with Richie Myler, failed; we tried with Robert Lui, failed; we tried Luke Gale, failed and Tui Lolohea, failed.

“Now with these two, the jigsaw is still puzzled. Can these two do it week in and week out to get Leeds to where they want to be?

“No, I don’t think they can. That search is still going on, because I don’t think these two are the answer.”

Schofield also reckons Rhinos’ pack is “not intimidating enough”.

He added: “The Wigan pack will be intimidating, as it always is.

“Look at the size of the St Helens pack and their mobility and how intimidating they are, Leeds can’t match that.”

Schofield insisted he was shocked by Leeds’ performance against Hull, who were his first professional club. “You’ve got to give credit to Hull,” he said. “How Jake Connor is not in the England 30-man squad, I don’t understand that.

“In 1995 I was left out of a 40-man England squad – and there weren’t 15 decent players, never mind 40! Jake Connor being left out of a 30-man squad is laughable.

“I am delighted for [Hull boss] Brett Hodgson because before the season started the two coaches under most pressure, for me, were Brett Hodgson and Ian Watson.

“They have both had a quality start and the two coaches under the most pressure now are our very own and Radders [Lee Radford] at Cas. I am delighted for the black and whites, they had brilliant quality from Jake Connor, but all they did is they get the basics right.

“The forwards ran hard and straight, I was impressed with young Ben McNamara and when they got in good field positions, they took their opportunities. Leeds, at times, were absolutely clueless. One thing for sure, the Leeds fans won’t put up with it any longer.”

Schofield insisted he is not criticising Leeds for the sake of it.

“I care about the club,” he said. “I want them to do the treble every year, but at the moment they are absolutely miles off.

“I thought the Catalans game two weeks ago was the worst performance since the Bradford game [a Challenge Cup defeat in 2019].

“From a league point of view, the performance last week was their worst since they got hammered 66-10 at Castleford [in 2017].

“We are absolutely nowhere near going to a Grand Final with what I have seen so far.”

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