Play-offs boost delights Leeds Rhinos ace Rhyse Martin

Super League and the Rugby Football League have agreed to end the regular season after Friday’s fixtures at Emerald Headingley when Wakefield Trinity play Salford Red Devils and Wigan Warriors will bid to secure top spot with a win over Huddersfield Giants.

Leeds’ derby with Castleford Tigers, scheduled for Friday, had already been called off and the game against Wigan, pencilled in for Monday, is also cancelled.

Instead, Rhinos will finish fifth in the table - their best placing since 2017 - and take on fourth-placed Catalans Dragons in an elimination tie on Friday, November 13, with the winners travelling to either Wigan or St Helens for a knockout semi-final the following week.

The plan at the start of the season was for five-team play-offs, but that was amended to the top-four following the coronavirus shutdown.

“It’s good news,” Martin said of the new play-offs format. “I think in a normal year, if we were to play our best team every week, we would be sitting in the top-four.

“It is good it has worked out for us because I think we have had to do it the hard way and, to our credit, we’ve stuck in there as best we can and put ourselves in a position to be in the play-offs.

“It’s exciting and hopefully we can get two trophies in one year.”

The Coral Challenge Cup holders are now two wins away from another final, the title decider at Hull’s KCOM Stadium on Friday, November 27.

Having played six games in 20 days from October 13 to November 1, Rhinos will have a 12-day gap between their final regular season fixture, at Wakefield Trinity last Sunday and the opening play-off.

“I think it works well for us,” Martin said. “We have been through this tough period and still found ways to get wins and by the time we get to our next game we should have a full-strength team, ready to go again.

“It’s two games into another final and it’ll be pretty cool if we can do that.”

Rhinos looked out on their feet in the 20-18 victory over Wakefield three days ago, but Martin said the prospect of knockout rugby will give them fresh energy.

“We haven’t played too great in the last week of games,” admitted the second-rower.

“We haven’t really put a game together where we are satisfied with it.

“There’s been games where we’ve had to do the hard work to win and sometimes you need to do that.

“I would rather be in the position we are, where you are trying to get your best game in, rather than being comfortable with where you are and getting a shock to your system when it doesn’t come off.

“I think we are sitting in a good spot and now we are in the play-offs we are excited and we know what we need to do.”

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