'Off the wall': Leeds Rhinos' Blake Austin talks kicking on from drop goal joy, pays tribute to St Helens

The 25-24 success, sealed by Austin’s drop goal 14 seconds from time, not only broke Rhinos’ Betfred Super League duck for the season, it also ended a 12-game losing run against Saints.

“I’ve only been here a short time, but one thing I know about Leeds, when our backs are against the wall is when we do our best stuff,” Austin stated. “Now our backs are off the wall a little bit, hopefully we can keep pressing on.”

Successive defeats to open the campaign created flashbacks to 2022 when Leeds won only one of their first 10 competitive games.

Beating Saints lifted some of that pressure, but the stand-off accepted the important thing now is to turn one victory into a string of them, beginning at home to winless Wakefield Trinity this Friday.

“We weren’t where we wanted to be [going into the game],” Austin admitted. “As much as we take every day and every game as it comes, we were getting to that point where you start to think about the nightmare start of last season.

“We don’t want to end up there again. It doesn’t put us out of the woods in that regard, we have got to back it up and do it all again, but I thought we started really well.

“We moved the ball really well and had them on the ropes for a lot of that first half and just didn’t capitalise with points, but we are happy with the result.”

The round three fixture was Saints’ first at home since their World Club Challenge triumph in Australia two weeks earlier.

They had won at Castleford the previous Sunday, but looked weary as their effort against Penrith Panthers took its toll and Austin conceded they weren’t at their usual standard.

He said: “When you are naught and two, of course a win’s going to help with confidence; doing it against Saints adds a bit to that.

“Take nothing away from Saints, that’s them at their worst and we had to claw tooth and

nail to beat them.

“They are a wonderful advocate for our game over here; to do what they have done, I can only tip my hat to them.

“I have been saying for years this will be the year they fall off the wagon, but they just keep showing up. They’ve got some wonderful players.”

It may have been a good time to play Saints, but coach Rohan Smith’s side made the most of that, after trailing 24-12 early in the second half.

Austin stressed: “You’ve still got to do it, they have got the personnel. We understand they were missing a few key players who would have made our night a bit tougher, but we are just happy.

“It makes for a better weekend, we don’t have to tuck away at home and hide our heads, we can get out and about and enjoy some time with our kids.”

The match was won in dramatic fashion. Austin had an earlier attempted one-pointer charged down; then Saints managed to prevent Aidan Sezer booting Leeds ahead, only for Rhinos to regain possession from the rebound.

The Aussie former Man of Steel nominee kept his nerve to booting the decisive point and he recalled: “I had one and Seze had one, both charged down.

“They came off their line pretty fast - I’d love to see if they left early, which they quite often do. It’s my job, but it’s a moment that’s going to help me going forward, to build off the back of.”

Leeds’ celebrations when the kick went over and after the final whistle showed how much the win meant.

“No one likes losing,” Austin - who paid tribute to the small but vocal band of Leeds fans who made the top to TW Stadium - said.

“People don’t understand the toll it can take when you are in those positions. To get a win is very pleasing, but it means nothing if we don’t win [on Friday].

“Wakey are a quality outfit, they have got a great spine and we owe it to our fans to put up a good display at home. We are not getting carried away, we are just pleased we got away with the win.”