'We can do something amazing': why Leeds Rhinos' Nene Macdonald has 'full-belief' in top-6 charge

Rhinos will go into Sunday’s visit of Macdonald’s former club Leigh Leopards on the back of successive narrow defeats which have left them eighth in the table, four points outside the top-six.

Last Friday’s 22-18 setback at St Helens came two weeks after Rhinos were beaten in golden-point extra-time by Hull KR.

They had opportunities to win both games, but errors and missed chances let their opponents off the hook and Macdonald admitted Rhinos need to find some of the consistency they have been lacking all year.

The Papua New Guinea international started at centre for Leeds against Saints, but moved on to the right-wing after David Fusitu’a failed a head injury assessment.

His try, converted by Rhyse Martin, edged Rhinos ahead with less than a quarter of the game remaining, but Saints replied with a six-pointer to send Leeds away empty-handed.

“It is very frustrating,” Macdonald admitted of the way they let the match slip. “We can win those games; at our best we are hard to beat. We were at our best in patches in the game, but we didn’t capitalise on most of it..”

Six of Rhinos’ 11 league defeats this year have been by a converted try or less. Macdonald insisted: “When we play the best teams we seem to be at our best.

“Now we just need to capitalise on finishing the games off. I think we are too inconsistent at the moment; when we are playing at our best we are a tough team to beat, but when we aren’t playing at our best anything can happen. I think we have just got to get that consistency right.

“There’s games and patches in games when we go really well and we blow teams out of the park.

“I think we have just got to have more patches like that and do it for longer, have more minutes as a team playing well and we will be hard to beat. It is just about getting the little things right.”

With seven games remaining in the regular season, that has to start soon, but Macdonald stressed he has “full belief in our team”.

He said: “I think we can go all the way. Everyone in our team should have that belief and I think we can do something amazing. But it is up to us to decide if we want it that bad.

“We can beat the best. It is still round games [the regular season] and if we can make the six, which I reckon we will, that’s when it really matters.

“It is all small talk now, but the real thing comes in finals time and I think that’s when we are going to shine.”

Sunday could be a good time to face Leigh who will be six days away from their first Wembley appearance since 1971, when they beat Leeds in one of the Challenge Cup’s greatest shocks.

The Leopards were knocked out of second place on the table by Wigan Warriors last Saturday and could have their minds elsewhere, but Macdonald is predicting a “tough little battle”.

He joined Leeds from Leigh in pre-season and said: “They are going well as a team. They look great as a unit, they have got a good squad and a good coach and I am happy for them.

“As a friend, playing alongside them last year and watching them go from the 1895 Cup and the Championship to the Challenge Cup final, it is exciting for them.

“But once you cross that line, it is game time. You can be friends off the pitch, but on it you have got to put your head down and play the best for your team.”

Macdonald did that against Saints and he stressed: “I am trying to put my best foot forward and do what I can for the team every week. You would rather the team won and you played badly though, it is all about the team result.”