'One win away': Leeds Rhinos' Mikolaj Oledzki reveals plan to turn season around

Friday’s visit of Huddersfield Giants is Rhinos’ third successive meeting with a team in Betfred Super League’s bottom three and they are desperate to avoid a hat-trick of defeats.

Losses to Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity left Rhinos eighth in the table, six points outside the play-offs.

Another setback this week would virtually end their top-six hopes, but Oledzki still believes they will be there at the end of the year.

“Of course I do, I think every single player in our squad does,” he insisted. “A lot of that belief comes from how we managed to turn things around last year, but also the squad we’ve got available and the players we’ve got coming back from injury.

“They will strengthen us and the team will really benefit from having them, so it will be great to see those players come back.

“We are all going to roll our sleeves up and do everything in our power to get to the play-offs and compete there.”

Friday’s game is huge for both clubs’ season, but Oledzki admitted: “Every game is important for us now if we want to make the play-offs and be competing like we were last year, at the back end of the season.

“I would say we are in a better situation than we were last year, but we also know we have to play much better if we want to get anywhere near what we achieved in 2022.

“Friday is a massive game for us and hopefully it is the start of a good journey for us going into the back end of the year.”

The defeat at Wakefield two weeks ago was Leeds’ sixth from their last seven games, but Oledzki reckons they can string a run of wins together once they snap their losing streak.

“You are one win away from turning things around,” he stated. “Look at Leigh, they are playing some really good rugby and they are probably the most in-form team at the moment.

“They are playing really well and they are playing with a lot of confidence. That is a big part of how a team plays.

“You are one win away from really boosting that confidence level and then things start to fall for you.

“You create your own luck in a way. Because the results haven’t been going our way lately, we are kind of searching for that pass or that big play.

“We probably have to be a bit more direct and use our strengths more. It is something we constantly work on and hopefully we can put things right this week.”

Before the campaign began Giants were one of the teams fancied by many pundits to do well this year.

They have yet to find their best form and - sitting two places and a couple of points behind Leeds - are also entering the last chance saloon.

Rhinos won 18-17 when the sides met at Headingley in April and Oledzki - Leeds’ player of the year in 2021 and 2022 - noted: “They are in a similar position to us.

“They have got a great team, great personnel in the team and great potential. They are just looking for that one good win to kick-start the season for them.

“We are the same, looking to kick-start our journey towards the play-offs, so it will be a good game, hopefully and a big one for both teams.

“We just need to make sure we do the simple things right and really build some pressure. There always seems to be a bit of drama in these games, but it doesn’t matter if it is a one-point victory or a 20-point victory, a win is a must for us and we are going to do everything we can to make sure we tick that off.”

The loss to Wakefield, who were on a 16-match losing run dating back to the end of last season, was arguably the worst in Leeds’ Super League history.

They have had to wait for a chance to put things right, but OIedzki vowed: “There’s no one more disappointed than we are as players and staff.

“We were disappointed with our performance, the result, the full day, really, because we expect much more of ourselves, but it is something we have got over.

“We have reviewed it and discussed what went wrong and how do we stop that from happening again and we moved on pretty quickly.

“You can’t really dwell on things like that too long, you just have to learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“The mood has been pretty good, all the boys are upbeat and ready to go against this week and to put a few wrongs right.”