'That's what we need to do': Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur identifies key failing after loss to Hull KR

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New boss Brad Arthur saw some improvement, but admitted Leeds Rhinos should have ‘found a way to win’ his first game in charge.

Rhinos remain four points outside the Betfred Super League play-offs, with just nine games remaining, after losing 20-12 to Hull KR at AMT Headingley today (Saturday). They led 6-0 at half-time and went 12-10 in front with 10 minutes left, but two late tries condemned them to a ninth defeat in 18 Super League rounds.

“It’s disappointing,” Arthur - who took a watching brief at the previous week’s 30-18 loss to Warrington Wolves - admitted in his post-match press conference. “Disappointing for the players and our fans. I feel like we tried hard enough and our effort was good enough to win, but we just lacked a bit of detail at times which put us under pressure, but it was better than last week.”

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The coach felt Rhinos should have seen the game out after taking their 70th minute lead. He added: “We started well, we got into the grind, went set for set and stuck at it.

Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur at Saturday's game. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur at Saturday's game. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.
Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur at Saturday's game. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

“In the second half we didn’t start great, but we probably should have scored to go to 10-0 and from there they went down the other end [to score]. After that we were able to stick to it and keep fighting and we stayed in it, but we got back to being in front with six minutes to go and from there, you need to find a way to win.”

The coach, who is on a contract until the end of the season, had no complaints over his team’s attitude and desire, but admitted parts of the performance need to be fixed. “It proved to me what I’ve seen in the week, that they care,” he said.

“They want to play well and get better; effort needs to be a given in the game and physicality and showing you care, but we need to find ways to try and win games of football. That’s the priority.”

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Huddersfield Giants’ win over Salford Red Devils on Friday means Leeds are still in touch with the top-six, but Arthur stressed he is not looking that far ahead. “That’s nine weeks away,” he said. “That has got to be the end result we are chasing, but what we need to do is, the stuff we did really well today, we have got to improve on that next week and make sure we maintain that. On the back of some of our kick-chase we did a good job keeping them coming out of red zone; they didn’t just match down the field, they had to work their way and kick their way out of trouble.

Matt Frawley, seen on the ball against Hull KR, was praised by Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.Matt Frawley, seen on the ball against Hull KR, was praised by Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.
Matt Frawley, seen on the ball against Hull KR, was praised by Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

“They got a couple of 40-20s so we’ve got to tidy up that. We need to continue to do that well and own some of the detail - a couple of times we didn’t have a dummy-half to pick up the ball, or we lost a bit of concentration.

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“We were in the fight, set-for-set footy and on the back of it we broke and got a couple of penalties, but tackle-one we throw the ball into touch and tackle-two we run into touch. When we learn to stay in it in those times and get that detail right, we’ll be better for it.”

Arthur, who side visit Huddersfield Giants on Thursday, also feels Leeds need to be more clinical. He noted: “We created some opportunities we didn’t quite nail and I thought at times when we got tired we were going a bit one-out.

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Brodie Croft on the attack for Leeds Rhinos agianst Hull KR, with Lachie Miller in support. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.Brodie Croft on the attack for Leeds Rhinos agianst Hull KR, with Lachie Miller in support. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.
Brodie Croft on the attack for Leeds Rhinos agianst Hull KR, with Lachie Miller in support. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

“That’s going to take a bit of time, but we build a bit of pressure and then let them off the hook with some early errors. We were up 12-10 with six minutes to go so we put ourselves in a position to win. That’s what we need to do.”

Both Leeds’ tries came after Hull KR full-back Jack Broadbent failed to deal with kicks from Leeds scrum-half Matt Frawley. The Aussie was recalled after being dropped for the previous game at Warrington Wolves and Arthur said: “I thought he was good, he kicked well, controlled the game well.

“He had a couple of nice runs, with a show and go back on the inside shoulder, but he needs to do that every week. He should be a senior player in this team, but I thought he was good, he stepped up.”

The Saturday afternoon fixture attracted a crowd of 14,555 and reflecting on his first taste of Headingley’s unique atmosphere, Arthur insisted: “It was great, loved it. It was different, I have really enjoyed the whole week. The club has bent over backwards for me to make the transition smooth, the staff and players; you could see they are wanting to buy in and they tried to do what we set out to do and talked about doing.

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“The support from our fans was great, it was nice and loud and hopefully they’ve seen enough in them to want to come back and watch them again. But we’ve already spoken to the boys about it - they want to see us try, but they want to see us win. We put ourselves in a position, we were close enough, but close enough is not going to be good enough.”

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