Progress under Brad Arthur, shield underdogs and player of the year top-3: latest Leeds Rhinos talking points
More than 10 months of hard work will come down to the next few weeks.
Leeds Rhinos go into the final two rounds of the regular season neck and neck with Wigan Warriors in the race to finish top of Betfred Super League - and the sides meet at AMT Headingley on Saturday in the biggest game of the year so far. Here’s five talking points.
1: Progress under Brad Arthur. Whatever happens over the next few weeks, Rhinos have come a long way under their current coach. When Arthur took charge 25 months ago, Rhinos were seventh in the table and went on to finish one place lower, for the second successive year.
Fourth last term and a first home play-off since 2017 was real progress and 12 months on, Leeds will go into the final round of the regular season still in the hunt for top spot. Their present total of 40 points is the club’s best since 2017 and one more win will equal their record from a 27-round Super League season, set in 2008 when they were second and the following year’s table-topping campaign.
It’s how it should be: Rhinos are a huge club with better resources than most, but after years of stagnation or decline, Arthur’s reign has restored lost pride and got them moving in the right direction again.
2: Shield underdogs. Because of their poor record in knockout games - they haven’t won one against top-flight opponents since 2022 - Rhinos’ temperament in big matches has been questioned. Last Friday’s fixture at St Helens wasn’t make or break, but it was a big challenge and the professional way they handled it was a good omen for the next few weeks.
Despite being top and having home advantage, Rhinos are probably slight underdogs for Saturday’s league leaders’ shield decider. Wigan are on a 14-game winning run so their form can’t be faulted, but it’s a while since they’ve been tested and Rhinos might be more battle-hardened.
Finishing first would arguably also mean more to Leeds than the visitors, though Wigan are chasing a second treble in three years. It’s a tough one to call and exactly the type of contest the competition needs at this stage of the season. Under lights at Headingley with a crowd of up to 19,000 expected, it should be a fantastic occasion.
3: Selection dilemma. Danny Levi will drop out of Rhinos’ initial squad this week, but Maika Sivo, James McDonnell and Keenan Palasia are expected back from injury in one of the next two games. That will give Arthur a welcome selection headache: who to leave out.
By the time Leeds play host to Hull FC a week on Friday, Sivo, Harry Newman, Jack Bird, Ash Handley and Ryan Hall could all be available. There’s no need to rush back broken arm victim Sivo this week, but at some stage someone will have to be omitted and on current form, nobody deserves to lose their spot.
With the pack in collective good form, another issue will arise if and when both McDonnell and Palasia return. Arthur had no qualms about making tough decisions and a hat-trick against York Knights in the previous match wasn’t enough for Riley Lumb to keep his place when Bird was back to fitness last week, but - with the play-offs around the corner - this is a much trickier dilemma.
4: Nearing a record. Brodie Croft’s try at Saints was his 28th of the season and he’s now only one behind Sivo, the competition’s leading scorer. Croft has touched down in Rhinos’ last nine games which is also one short of the club Super League record of tries in 10 successive matches, set by Sivo earlier this season.
Croft has equalled Paul Sterling’s mark of crossing in nine straight Super League fixtures, which lasted from 1997 until Sivo beat it in July. The competition’s best try-scoring run is 11 games, achieved by Hull’s Richard Horne in 2006. Leeds have never had more than one player reach 30 tries for a season in the summer era.
5: Player of the year. That honour will be announced at Rhinos’ awards night next Monday and there’s no shortage of contenders. It has been a really solid team effort from Leeds this season with the backs scoring a mountain of points, the pack getting on the front foot and, behind that, one half creating a host of touchdowns and the other scoring them.
That said, there can surely only be one real candidate. Jake Connor, the 2025 winner, has been even better this season and currently leads Super League in points, goals, try assists, attacking kicks, 40-20s and kicks in general play. For what it’s worth, the YEP’s top three would be third Handley, second McDonnell, first Connor.