Scrum error explained, ref moans & why Kallum Watkins is transfer target: Leeds Rhinos talking points

Rhinos are on the back of a 16-14 loss at Warrington Wolves which left them seventh in Betfred Super League after six games. They return to action at Salford Red Devils on Thursday, April 10 and could have a face familiar to both sides in their ranks by then. Here’s five talking points.

1: Why do Rhinos want to re-sign 34-year-old Kallum Watkins, six years after his mid-season exit? For one thing, he is still a very good player. Also, he is vastly experienced, an on-field leader, can cover a couple of positions and is a useful goal kicker.

With Harry Newman and Ash Handley established at centre and James Bentley, James McDonnell and Morgan Gannon all going well in the second-row, it’s not obvious where he’d fit into the team, but you can’t have too many good players and his return would increase depth and competition for places, which is something coach Brad Arthur is keen on.

Watkins declined to play for Salford against Wigan Warriors last week and hasn’t been training, so it’s in their interests to move him on and obviously they want the biggest-possible transfer fee. Rhinos, though, aren’t desperate for a signing, so are unlikely to shift much from their valuation.

There is other interest, from Wakefield Trinity for example and it may be another club offers more, but Watkins is understood to favour returning to his former side and Ryan Hall has proved this year a move like that can work. If it does happen, it’ll be a good outcome for all parties.

2: The game at Warrington ended in chaotic fashion as Rhinos packed down for a scrum which would have given them one last play in the hosts’ half, only for the hooter to go before they could put the ball in - despite the clock having been stopped for a captain’s challenge. Leeds players claimed referee Tom Grant said they needed six players in the scrum, which wasn’t the case as they were down to 12 men at the time. However, the RFL told the Evening Post: “The referee didn’t call time back on after the captain’s challenge decision, but there was an operational error with the timekeeping.” In other words, the timekeeper restarted the clock by mistake. Human error happens sometimes; it’s unlikely Rhinos would have scored in the final 10 seconds and the incident was only noticed because of when it happened in the game, so no conspiracy, just bad timing all round.

3: Rhinos had more reason to be upset about Keenan Palasia’s 75th-minute sin-binning which led directly to Warrington’s decisive try. It’s impossible to know, but they might have held on to win the game with 13 men on the field.

Video referee Ben Thaler felt Palasia’s tackle on Lachlan Fitzgibbon was worth a 10-minute sit down, but - presumably on the same evidence - the RFL’s match review panel decided it wasn’t worth a disciplinary charge. Apparently, their finding was ‘sin-bin sufficient’, rather than not guilty, but punishment for the lowest grade A charge is one penalty point and no further action, so you can draw your own conclusion.

4: Still on referees, Warrington coach Sam Burgess waiting to speak to Grant as he left the field at half-time wasn’t a good look. The penalty count was two-two at that stage and, by the YEP’s reckoning, finished seven-four in Wolves’ favour.

Burgess said afterwards he was querying forward passes before both Leeds’ tries, but there’s no justification for doing that midway through a game, nor is there a law stating if one teams gets a 50-50 decision, the next has to go the other way. Nobody wants to see coaches putting pressure on match officials. Captains can talk to the referee if they have a concern, everybody else from the competing clubs should keep their distance between the first whistle and final hooter.

5: Why don’t you focus on the players? Okay, Super League’s 5,000th game was a cracker, not perfect quality-wise, but high in intensity and drama, with the result in the balance until the end. Warrington’s young wingers, Aron Lindop and Jake Thewlis, were excellent, while Lachie Miller and Jake Connor had a big influence for Leeds and James Bentley continued his impressive start to the campaign.

Sometimes you play well and lose; the last five minutes cost Rhinos two points, but that shouldn’t detract from an encouraging performance. Leeds have proved they can go toe to toe with the better sides in Super League this year and what’s needed now is some fine tuning in a few areas, particularly on attack.

Three of Rhinos’ six Super League games have been decided by a two-point margin, so it’s about nailing the big moments in matches, which they didn’t quite do at HJ Stadium. But Leeds are making progress and if they can maintain that and show some consistency, they aren’t far off being a good team. Defence is in good shape and that will give them a chance in most games. Attack remains a work in progress, but - if their pivots can avoid injury - that should improve as the season goes on.