'We've turned it around' - Sutcliffe hails Leeds Rhinos' revival ahead of Catalans Dragons showdown

Friday’s elimination tie against Catalans Dragons at Warrington will be Rhinos’ first in the play-offs since their Grand Final victory over Castleford Tigers three years ago.

Two wins would take them into their second final of the year, following last month’s Coral Challenge Cup win and Sutcliffe said: “It is great, it is testament to us, how we have turned it around in 18 months or so.”

He stressed: “It is good to be going into the back end of the season knowing you have still got something to play for, instead of being at the bottom and just waiting for the season to end.

“We are really happy with how things are going, but obviously we still want to improve a lot more and see how far we can take things.”

Of the difference between recents seasons and now, Sutcliffe said: “We are a really close bunch.

“We’ve had some open and honest chats over the last year or 18 months. We had a good camp in Alicante at the start of the year and it was a very open camp and pretty emotional and I think it brought us closer together.

“That has shown this season.”

That “togetherness” was needed during Rhinos’ punishing spell of six games in 20 days.

“Everyone’s glad to get through it, but we managed to get through it[the fixture congestion] all right,” Sutcliffe admitted.

“It was a really good effort. We knew how tough it was going to be, but we came through it pretty happy.

“Obviously we were disappointed with the first Wakey performance, but it was good to get the win back against them.

“We could have gone into that thinking how are we going to get through this? We could have looked for any excuse, but we managed to turn up and grind out a tough win.”

Rhinos have not played since the win at Wakefield Trinity on November 1 and Sutcliffe added: “We have got through the tough part, of so many games in a short space of time.

“We have got back to a normal week now. We had a good chance [last week] to have a few days off to rest and recover and get ready to go again.”

Tom Briscoe, Konrad Hurrell, Matt Prior and Richie Myler are all now available after a spell in self-isolation and returned to training today (Tuesday).

Several other key players could make their comeback from from injury, but Sutcliffe insisted he has full confidence in Rhinos’ fringe players, if they need to step in.

“The young lads have been outstanding for us when they’ve come into the team,” he observed. “It has shown, when they have all played at one time, how competitive they’ve been at such a young age against top sides in the league.

“It is full credit to them, they have been great in training and it is great to see them out there.”

On a personal note, Sutcliffe has been in sparkling form in the left-centre, forming a strong partnership with winger Ash Handley.

“I am really enjoying that at the moment,” he said. “I enjoy playing in the left-centre and the relationship Ash and I have got is starting to come good. Hopefully we can build on that and see how we go.”

Sutcliffe is contracted until the end of next season, but was placed on the transfer list, at his request, earlier this year.

Leeds are keen to keep him, on a longer deal and he said there is “stuff happening in the background”.

He insisted: “I am really enjoying my rugby and we will just see how things go. I have been enjoying myself for the last couple of months and I feel pretty settled in the left-centre role.”

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